Obama has moved to the centre. But the GOP and Tea Baggers have just moved further

[applegrove]

to the right. Now they push ahead full steam with their attack on unions. Will Obama stand here and fight for the unions? Because those good old days in the 1950s took place when unions were ascending and the middle class exploded.

[villager]

1. the "center" Obama claims to be in was the former "right wing" in America

n/t

[applegrove]

2. Yup.

[Fearless]

18. +10000

[Loki]

3. He may have moved to the center

but the republicans have moved into the asylum.

[Bodhi BloodWave]

4. Interesting, i was of the view that Obama is the same but DU has gone further to the left o.o

[JoePhilly]

5. +1

[great white snark]

6. I share your view.

For anyone who truly followed his campaign, President Obama is right where he said he would be.

[MannyGoldstein]

8. You mean like the public option for health care?

Or any of these: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-june-15-2010/resp...

I guess some people have forgotten candidate Obama's "Bankers first, and I'll slash your Social Security" speech in Dayton.

[Badfish]

9. I agree.

Most the outrage here is because people are misinformed.

[avaistheone1]

22. Not really.

People primarily bought into Obama because he was gong to get us out of Iraq which he has not done. Obama also never had broad support for going into Afghanistan. Even the President himself has admitted it publicly.

These are two huge train wrecks on his watch that our bankrupting our country, and creating more hate and violence throughout the world.

[Bake]

28. I remember something about closing Gitmo, too.

We know how far he got with that one...

Bake

[Jakes Progress]

24. The operative word in your statement being "right".

[phleshdef]

10. This is somewhat true. This place has been a huge source of support for people like Al Gore....

...and Hillary Clinton and other politicians who are not nearly as far to the left as some portray them as.

In all reality, Barack Obama is and always has been moderately to the left of the center of the American ideological scale. It wasn't until after we elected a Democrat, that this place started turning into a rabidly judgemental "he/she isn't left enough" kind of place. And most of the people making such claims really have no idea what they are talking about.

[uncle ray]

11. i also knew who i was voting for.

[Wait Wut]

19. +1 (and a sigh)

[Tesha]

7. That's how it works.

You start bargaining from some position *FARTHER
TOWARDS YOUR SIDE* than what you'll eventually
settle for, then you meet somewhere in the middle.

Obama doesn't seem to understand this since he
*ALWAYS* opens with the Republican's position
and thinks they'll compromise at that point.
No, they just back farther into their goal
position.

Tesha

[polichick]

12. If he moves any futher "center" he could be a Republican candidate...

It doesn't pay to give so much; better to stand your ground so the center doesn't keep shifting.

[Jakes Progress]

25. Already to the right of eisnehower.

[swilton]

26. Today's 'center' is yesterday's right

[treestar]

13. Just let the GOP drive themselves off the right side of the cliff

They will become more and more unpalatable to the center and independents.

[TheKentuckian]

14. So some have said since Watergate or so.

Palatable or not they are dug in like an Alabama tick. Out-waiting them is a dangerous proposition despite being a passive position.

[Hello_Kitty]

15. Same here in AZ. I don't think people safely ensconced in Blue states understand how bad it can get

All they have to do here is throw out some culture war red meat and the mouthbreathers flock to the polls to vote for Republicans.

[BobbyBoring]

17. How true

The list of filthy, rotten, immoral transgressions from the R side of the aisle was so long 30 years ago that it's amazing they're still in existence.

What I really don't get is why convicted criminals like Liddy, Ollie North, and others are heroes to these people. As long as there's ignorance in America, the Republicans will be here.

I don't see ignorance going anywhere soon~

[treestar]

20. They were positively mild at the time of Watergate

And even throughout the 80s.

they keep steadily going right to the point of absurdity.

Just because it takes decades does not mean it will not eventually happen. This is a historical shift. I don't see why people think everything has to happen within the hour to be happening.

[TheKentuckian]

23. It is the exact same movement. The difference between "mild" and today is letting a weed flourish.

Not dissimilar to the current beltway tactics which will lead to TeaPubliKlans of today seeming "mild" by future standards and "the center" being them or worse.

Waiting for them to "overplay their hand" or whatever is not a strategy that history supports. The larger odds are on matters becoming worse.

[craigmatic]

16. The only way to ensure that a middle exists in politics is by there being a left.

[Dr Morbius]

21. Flash back to 2008.

The GOP has just been soundly thrashed in two straight elections. It is clear to even the most casual political observer that the Republican party represents the far right in American politics, and that the Democratic party basically accounts for everyone else. Here and elsewhere, savvy lefties predicted the end of the Republican party. The Republican party found itself with an image problem. How could they not appear to be far right? Well, the simplest way is to find someone even more to the right so the GOP would appear relatively moderate by comparison. Enter the Koch brothers and the Tea Party.

Compared to the Tea Party people, regular Republicans seem relatively sane. And that's the reason, boys and girls, that there is today a Tea Party. It's entirely a Republican device, created to move the country incrementally to the right while making the Republican party seem moderate.

I myself don't believe in the left and the right and the center anymore. It all seems like a load of crap to me.

[swilton]

27. The Democratic Party let the Republican Party rebrand itself

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

Paul Jay, the Real News on the eve of the 2010 election – Six reasons that the Democratic Party/ Obama Administration gave the Republicans a chance for a resurgence:
1. Allowed Republicans to rebrand themselves as populists
2. Old mindset in US foreign policy
3. Not defending the public option for health care reform
4. Not Using the Auto Bailout to Build A Green Economy
5. Bailing Out Bankers and not the Banking System
6. Not investigating Bush and Cheney

[tigerfan1]

29. Obama's whorishness

Yep! The Democrats climbed into bed with the corporations the same as the Republicans many, many years ago. Obama just somehow maintained the illusion that he had not whored himself out yet and that's what got him elected. Corporate profits made a record high last quarter and most US corporations paid little to no income tax in 2010 according the the federal government.