Presidential candidates traditionally slide towards the center of the political spectrum after they secure the nominations of their parties. Senator John McCain is no exception--he has admitted to adjusting his views on a couple of issues. But Senator Barack Obama is notable not only in that he refuses to admit that he is moving to the center to make himself more electable (he was named the most liberal senator by the non-partisan National Journal); Obama's shift is astounding in the ever-increasing number of his policies that have been, shall we say, adjusted. Numbers 1 through 18 are in no particular order; these were in the original blog post. Numbers 19 to the end are in chronological order.
1) was against 1990s welfare reform, now for it
2) was for Washington, DC gun ban, now against it
3) was against death penalty for any reason, now favors it for child rapists and Osama Bin Laden
4) was against NAFTA, now for it
5) was against Cuban embargo, now for it
6) promised to accept campaign spending limits/matching funds if McCain did, now refuses to participate even though McCain does
7) was "strongly" against FISA, then voted for it
8) was against homosexual marriage, now supports it (a rare leftward move)
9) was against personally displaying patriotism via flag lapel pins, now wears one
10) was against Jerusalem being the undivided capital of Israel, now for it
11) was for chatting unconditionally with Iran's President AckMyDumbJihad, now for conditions
12) had promised never to "disown" Reverend Wright, now Wright is disowned
13) for 20 years was for family's membership in hateful so-called "Trinity Church", now against it
14) was for mental health exceptions for allowing partial-birth abortions, now against them
15) voted against laws protecting abortion survivors, now for such laws
16) claimed to be for several town hall-style debates with Senator McCain before the conventions, but his campaign later said only one, and only at a time no one would watch (Independence Day)
17) promised to never use negative ads, yet started using them against McCain before McCain went negative
18) was against President Bush's faith-based initiatives, now for them
19) had demanded that Bush boycott Olympic opening ceremonies, then he financially supported the ceremonies by buying advertising time during them
20) was for pulling troops out of Iraq per timetable, with little or no regard to conditions, now "entirely conditions-based"
21) two years ago, promised to bring assistance to impoverished African school where 10 of his relatives attend, but nothing yet
22) said in June that "my party" wouldn't take money from lobbyists, but as of late July his campaign as well as his party have accepted tens of thousands of dollars from individual registered lobbyists
23) was against all offshore drilling, now for it as long as it’s “carefully circumscribed”
24) as of 7/7, was against using oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to bring about a "decrease in gas prices", now for it
25) was for punishing Michigan and Florida delegates by not seating them at the Dem convention, now he wants them seated
26) said in June that "my party" wouldn't take money from PACs, but as of mid-August he's accepting large donations from PACs and unions
27) said before PA primary, no "bagmen"*, but will have them for general election
28) was against 527s (PACs, special-interest groups, and non-affiliated political allies) advertising in his behalf, but now he's allowing it
29) was for raising taxes on many individuals and corporations, but now that the economy is better, he says those tax increases will have to wait until the economy is much better
30) called for bipartisan commission on Wall Street oversight in April, but after McCain recently agreed, Obama rejected the idea as a political dodge ("We'll get back to ya")
31) said every candidate should reveal complete earmark history when it was him vs. Hillary, but now that earmark king Biden is his partner, secrecy is OK
32) 2/11/07: "We... have seen over 3,000 lives of the bravest young Americans wasted." 9/26/08: "No US soldier ever dies in vain."
33) In January, told the San Fran Chronicle he would "bankrupt" the coal industry, but after he won the Dem nomination he came out in favor of coal
The "flip-flops" are coming fast and furious lately, so check back here once in a while as I update the list.
*providing cash to local get-out-the-vote workers who have no accountability and who traditionally pay people to vote
