Tuesday, July 08, 2008

McCain, NY Times agree Obama’s broken pledges

This today at the very end of an AP story trying to downplay the extent of its presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama’s changing positions on critical issues:

McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds argued Obama "put politics ahead of principle" on numerous issues and "has proven his rhetoric to be nothing but empty words and broken pledges that are at odds with his left wing partisan record. Barack Obama is wrong: everyone's been listening and still nobody knows what Barack Obama truly believes."
And this from a NY Times editorial July 4:
Senator Barack Obama stirred his legions of supporters, and raised our hopes, promising to change the old order of things.

He spoke with passion about breaking out of the partisan mold of bickering and catering to special pleaders, promised to end President Bush’s abuses of power and subverting of the Constitution and disowned the big-money power brokers who have corrupted Washington politics.

Now there seems to be a new Barack Obama on the hustings. First, he broke his promise to try to keep both major parties within public-financing limits for the general election. His team explained that, saying he had a grass-roots-based model and that while he was forgoing public money, he also was eschewing gold-plated fund-raisers. These days he’s on a high-roller hunt.
There’s more like that before the Times pouts:
… Mr. Obama’s shifts are striking because he was the candidate who proposed to change the face of politics, the man of passionate convictions who did not play old political games.
Yes, he was “the candidate who proposed to change the face of politics.” But that was then; and now is now.

But the Times shouldn't be too hard on Obama: he did signal he was a “change” candidate.

Something else: he promised to “unite America.”

He hasn’t done that yet, but he's made a start by bringing McCain and the NY Times together.

Here's the AP story, "Obama denies shifting to reach political center;" and here's the NYT editorial, "New and Not Improved."

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

John -

So St. Barack denies shifting to reach the political center. St. Barack should realize that denial is not only a river in Egypt.

Jack in Silver Spring

Anonymous said...

Time for an Obama Twisty-Treat:
Let me make this perfectly clear, a lurch to the center, is not a shift in policy. A lurch or shift, is not a flip-flop, and a pledge is not a promise.

This is the ‘CHANGE’ I jived about. You need to put on your listening ears, and really listen to me. The teleprompter never lies, it’s programmed by a higher being. Uncle Jeremiah is in charge of that department.

Hope folks, that’s what I’m talking about. I hope there’s a sucker born every minute.

Anonymous said...

Well said Archer05! Phineas T. Barnum would be right proud of Mr. Obama.
Tarheel Hawkeye

Anonymous said...

Starting his unification by "bringing McCain and the NYT together" -- LOLLOLLOL!! Serious thought Hawk; Barnum appears to be spot on.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Obama anounced today he was prepared to vote YEA on the FISA Bill before the Senate, infuriating his far-left supporters. One can't blame them for being miffed; after all, the all-but-anointed Democrat standard bearer promised on numerous occasions during the Mr. Obama/Hillary Rodham dust-up that he would never support George Bush's FISA bill as proposed. I guess he found a fig leaf to hide behind. This guy is piece of work.
Tarheel Hawkeye

Anonymous said...

Obama is doing pretty much what Bill Clinton did; read the polls, see how the majority of American voters feel about a certain issue, then adopt that as your position. Change???? Nothing new here.