Indiana's most tiresomely predictable liberal columnist is aghast that his beloved O, having secured the primary, now seems to be pandering to the Hussein-hating "relentless right."
Pragmatism, even a little Machiavellianism, is no vice in a just war. Those of us looking at a choice between a brilliant African-American and a Bushite caretaker in the White House can forgive Barack's taking the money, Barack's punting away the gun problem, Barack's half-baked health care plan. Maybe, as some analysts have it, the base he has mobilized will push him to the left once he's in. What bothers me is that he's trying so darn hard to please those elements that would not want him in if he promised to come by every Sunday and rotate their tires.
Geez. Obama isn't courting the right; he's trying to cut into the middle. Ever hear of "Reagan Democrats"? If the blogosphere had been around back then, we probably would have had a lot of righty bloggers bemoaning Dutch's lurch to the left in search of true love from people who wouldn't spit on him if he were on fire.
I don't mean to sound above all this. As the campaign continues, we'll all succumb to it. Given my politics, I'll probably write screeds about the lunatic-left fringe. Before it's all over, I'll undoubtedly find myself tiresome.
But in modern politics, presidential candidates play to the base in the primaries, then go to the middle in the general election. That's how they win, because that's where the votes are. If Obama's change seems like a betrayal instead of pragmatic politics, it's because too many people believed all the hype about change and a new course and hope and blah, blah, blah. He's running for president, which means he is, first and foremost, a politician. Get over it.
