The world is kicking my butt this week, so abject apologies for not participating in a bunch of interesting discussions here and out in the blogs in general.
A few things I'd be blogging about if I can get some time:
Should you invest in the long tail? - very interesting, and read Anderson's reply.
The far-right's patriotism problem - not so much, but it's a nice trigger to talk again about '68ers and patriotism
Moving to the middle is for losers - again, not so much but a good hook to use to discuss real centrism and whether Obama qualifies as such
Blogs, Participation and Polarization - a fascinating study
Moving to the middle is for losers - again, not so much but a good hook to use to discuss real centrism and whether Obama qualifies as such
I don't think anyone can possibly tell if Obama qualifies for centrism, if we mean by that what he believes/prefers in his heart.
He could be a centrist who swerved left to get nominated.
He could be a leftist who is swerving central to get elected.
He could be an opportunist who'll say anything at the right time.
He could be someone who started left and moves central as he learns more.
Those are the four basic categories. I'll concede he's not a pathological opportunist. But I don't believe his move left is honest, just on the basis of simple timing. The number of positions he's reversed, modified, or softened (typically while insisting he's not done any of that) have been grouped together very tightly in the time period after he clinched the party nomination for me to believe that is coincidental or part of some gradual gathering of new facts.
He's not the first and won't be the last. But it's one of the more pronounced and rapid shifts I've seen in my voting life, and I have no great way of knowing where that leaves him or what his real feelings are.