I was a big fan of Obama's, I'm still a fan, but I didn't like "The Audacity of Hope." Here are some

[Stop Cornyn]

other reasons Obama is too centrist and too moderate to be my first choice:

Heath care

Immigration

Protecting the middle class

Sabre rattling over terrorists

This is from Obama own Senate website:

Moderate approach

He chose a half-dozen or so mostly noncontroversial topics on which to carve a niche. And on those issues - which range from the government's preparedness for avian flu to destroying weapons stockpiles in the former Soviet Union - he has mostly crafted a moderate stance, often working closely with a Republican colleague.

He went to Russia and the Ukraine with Sen. Richard Lugar, R- Ind., to inspect weapons storage sites. He teamed up with Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., to offer a "sensible center" proposal on the divisive issue of immigration reform.

And he joined Sen. Coburn on Katrina, where he generated considerable attention by visiting New Orleans and wading into the debate over whether the slow response was driven by racism. (That accusation, he said at the time, was "too simplistic," although he took the Bush administration to task more broadly for its policies toward the poor.)

Since then, Obama has focused his follow-up efforts on being a government watchdog as the Federal Emergency Management Agency doles out billions of dollars in reconstruction money.

He and Coburn called for a chief financial officer to oversee all the spending. Their proposal has stalled, but the two senators have continued to pound on FEMA in public and private on the issue.

Obama said his interests converged with those of Coburn, the conservative Republican. "Tom and I may not agree how money should always be spent, but we can agree that money should not be wasted," he said. "When you're allocating huge sums of money that's vanishing in no-bid contracts, that's hurting poor people as well as the taxpayers."

Obama's approach has mostly earned him rave reviews - from Republicans and Democrats alike - who say he is an open-minded, deliberative lawmaker.

Coburn called him a "phenomenal young man who will go to great heights," while Martinez said he hasn't seemed "dogmatic" or "ideologically driven" on any issue.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. and a frequent maverick within the GOP, said: "He's very impressive, he's thoughtful, he's centrist."

Cautious on Iraq

Obama's voting record shows fewer signs of independence. He supported a GOP-backed bill to impose new limits on class-action lawsuits and also said yes to Condoleezza Rice's confirmation for secretary of state, even as some of his Democratic colleagues used that vote to object to the Bush administration's Iraq war policy. But he has otherwise mostly voted with his fellow Democrats.

Obama also has taken a cautious tack on Iraq. He campaigned strongly against the war last year, and many expected him to be a forceful voice on the subject.

But Obama waded into the fray over Iraq after there was already a deafening drumbeat of criticism from both Democrats and Republicans of the administration's conduct of the war. And his speech offered little new; his call for a phased draw-down of troops, for example, had already been bandied about by Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and others.

"The war has been a big challenge" for him, said Ronald Walters, a political science professor at the University of Maryland. "Because he comes from a community that is opposed to the war, and from a caucus that has mixed views . . . he has to be careful." His stance is "symptomatic of his moderation," said Walters.

Walters sees such positions as politically smart, and he sees Obama as part of a "new generation" of African-American leaders who are "less strident, less demanding, less militant."

Obama said his view on the war has been consistent. He thought it was wrong to get in but that now the United States has a responsibility to see the conflict through, which is why he doesn't support a quick withdrawal. Obama said he doesn't think he's being too cautious - on Iraq or anything else.

His allies and several outside observers agree. Mooney, the University of Illinois professor, said it would be more out of character for Obama to strike a hard line than to craft moderate policies as he's doing.

"I don't see him doing anything different than he did in the state house," Mooney said. "He's not a knee-jerk ideologue."

In his short time in the Senate, Obama has moved well to the center since his liberal days before he was a national figure.

I'm not saying Obama isn't a great guy, because he is, but he's too moderate for my taste. I'll work my ass off to see him elected if he's our nominee, but he isn't my first choice in the primary.

[KG]

1. i seldom post in prez candidate threads, but to expect anything but moderate,

centrist, corporate sell out, go-along-to-get-along, pink tu-tu policies and politics from whatever dem gets elected is simply delusional.

the dem party is not and will never be a vehicle for positive, progressive change in this country.

[Stop Cornyn]

3. Surely you don't include Dennis Kucinich in your moderate, centrist, corporate sell-out label? Who

else?

[KG]

4. DK is one of the few dem party politicos, and only prez candidate, that i respect..

but the dem party leadership are morally corrupt political cowards and want to play moderate, centrist, corporate sell out, go-along-to-get-along, pink tu-tu politics, so he would never be nominated.

[Stop Cornyn]

5. A agree that Kucinich is a cut above the field. I think that Edwards is not as good as Kucinich but

still has a better and more progressive platform than the rest.

[Czolgosz]

2. I agree. Obama is better than Hillary, but I just can't get excited about him