Obama Fights Against Liberal Label

Washington Post: McCain, Clinton Campaigns Seek To Brand Illinois Senator As Left Wing

(Washingtonpost.com)  This story was written by Alec MacGillis.

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Sen. Barack Obama offers himself as a post-partisan uniter who will solve the country's problems by reaching across the aisle and beyond the framework of liberal and conservative labels he rejects as useless and outdated.

But as Obama heads into the final presidential primaries, Sen. John McCain and other Republicans have already started to brand him a standard-order left-winger, "a down-the-line liberal," as McCain strategist Charles R. Black Jr. put it, in a long line of Democratic White House hopefuls.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign has also started slapping the L-word on Obama, warning that his appeal among moderate voters will diminish as they become more aware of liberal positions he took in the past, such as calling for single-payer health care and an end to the U.S. embargo against Cuba. "The evidence is that the more [voters] have been learning about him, the more his coalition has been shrinking," Clinton strategist Mark Penn said.

The double-barreled attack has presented Democratic voters with some persistent questions about Obama: Just how liberal is he? And even if he truly is a new kind of candidate, can he avoid being pigeonholed with an old label under sustained assault?

Despite being rated the most liberal senator in 2007 by the National Journal, Obama has sought to confound easy categorization. While his record and platform mostly adhere to a left-leaning Democratic model, he has cast them as a common-sense response to the Bush administration. His ability to appeal to independents and even Republicans has been one of his main attractions for Democrats eager to retake the White House, and a cause for concern among some GOP leaders.

At the same time, the criticism from the McCain and Clinton operations draws a quick rebuttal from Obama's campaign. His strategists recognize that Democratic voters and the superdelegates who may end up deciding the hotly contested nomination are concerned about the electability of a candidate tagged with the "liberal" label that has fatally wounded nominees such as John F. Kerry, Michael S. Dukakis and Walter F. Mondale.

"While there's no doubt that Obama comes from a progressive bent, he's got a very rich and thoughtful approach, and that's the reason why you have both Democrats and Republicans who've worked with him who say positive things about him," said David Axelrod, Obama's chief strategist. He chided the Clinton camp for warning about Obama's liberalism, saying she would be subject to the same critique.

"The Republican Party would very much like to run against Hillary Clinton . . . and would have no trouble taking individual votes to create the kind of caricature they want to create," he said. "It's laughable to suggest that somehow she would be impervious to that. She wouldn't be. They would have a field day."

Obama's elusiveness until now has been a source of frustration for Clinton. While her campaign now argues that Obama is too liberal, Clinton has mixed this message by attacking from the left on several issues, such as suggesting that he is weak on abortion rights, too fond of Ronald Reagan and too timid on health-care reform.

"The frustration that the Clinton campaign has felt . . . comes very much from trying to attack him from the left and right along the traditional spectrum," said Robert Reich, who served as labor secretary in Bill Clinton's administration. "But he's playing an entirely different game, and they don't know how to play that game."

In most major areas, Obama has taken positions that would seem to conform to the Republican stereotype of a liberal. Like Clinton, he favors expanding the government's role in delivering health care, and would pay for that by ending President Bush's tax cuts for the rich. He would go a step further than Clinton by lifting the limit on income taxed for Social Security, now $100,000, to set that program on firm footing.

He strongly supports abortion rights and spoke out against a Supreme Court ruling last year that upheld a ban on the procedure that some call "partial-birth" abortion. He favors allowing illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses (after some hesitation, Clinton came out against that). He is outspoken on civil rights, and he has opposed Bush's judicial picks, staying out of a bipartisan effort to approve some nominees. While he supports the death penalty for the most "heinous" crimes, as a Senate candidate in 2004 he expressed support for strict gun control, decriminalizing marijuana and ending federal mandatory minimum prison sentences, issues he now rarely raises on the trail.

On foreign policy, he balances his opposition to the Iraq war with plans to intensify the pursuit of al-Qaeda. But he has opened the door to Republican caricature with his call to negotiate with hostile governments, and has been endorsed by the activist group MoveOn.org.

As some Republicans see it, the only things keeping Obama from being branded as one of the most liberal top presidential contenders ever are his pragmatic tone and conciliatory rhetoric.

"His personal countenance and the way he speaks and comes across is anti-ideological," said Peter H. Wehner, who served as Bush's deputy assistant. "He radiates a kind of reasonableness and fair-mindedness. He has the capacity to give voice to another person's argument even as he disagrees with them. All those things work in his favor and make it more difficult to pin an ideological label on him."

That said, Wehner added, Obama is vulnerable because he can point to no major area where he has broken with liberal orthodoxy, as Bill Clinton did with welfare reform in his 1992 campaign.

Obama indicated early last year that he might push merit pay for teachers, which is unpopular with teachers unions, but he makes little mention of that now. The one point in his stump speech where he presents himself as speaking hard truths is in telling automobile executives that they must improve fuel efficiency -- already a popular idea with Democrats.

[illinoisvote]

Obama Knows His Way around a Ballot by David Jackson & Ray Long, Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-070403obama-ballot,0,1843097.story?,page=1
Some say his ability to play political hardball goes back to his first campaign%u2026.His overwhelming legal onslaught signaled his impatience to gain office, even if that meant elbowing aside an elder stateswoman like Palmer%u2026Obama%u2019s first campaign clouds the image he has cultivated throughout his political career%u2026first entered public office not by leveling the playing field, but by clearing it%u2026

[actornaught]

...Perhaps worst of all is Obama''s links to his Moslem influences and his African Moslem background, as Barack Hussein Obama...
Posted by gorgeousm at 09:27 PM : Mar 27, 2008

Are you a 9/11 conspiracy idiot as well?

[gorgeousm]

The most disturbing negative descriptions or labels related to Obama, whether real or perceived, is his ties to those angry, anti-white people, racist, haters like Louis Farrakkan and Reverend Wright.

Perhaps worst of all is Obama''s links to his Moslem influences and his African Moslem background, as Barack Hussein Obama, does not sit comfortably with the majority of Americans.

These VERY SIGNIFICANT details render Obama UNELECTABLE for President of The United States.

[ksh1022]

Who is Obama? He votes present 130 times because he wants to avoid voting yes or no,so no one can use his record against him. He doesn''t want to be too democratic so the Independents and Republicans will vote for him. He beongs to a racist black church because he doesn''t want to be too white. He doesn''t attend that church on Easter Sunday because he doesn''t want to be too black. Now he doesn''t want to be too liberal? My goodness, how will he ever be able to lead when he doesn''t know who he wants to be?

[actornaught]

...The only people to whom "liberal" is a derogatory term are those who call themselves "conservative".
Posted by heartlight3 at 03:25 PM : Mar 27, 2008

Pretty accurate, when you realize it''s the ones that only "call" themselves conservatives. The ones that are real conservatives are horrified at their philosophy being shanghaied by neoconservatives (former liberals), hate radio comedians, and self-serving bigots that don''t know the joke is on them, in that sequence.

[heartlight3]

I guess I''m too young to remember why the term "liberal" is such a dirty word. Absent that old context, my observation is that people who are labeled "liberal" are more open minded, progressive, compassionate, inclusive, thoughtful, tolerant, and altruistic than people who call themselves "conservative". The only people to whom "liberal" is a derogatory term are those who call themselves "conservative".

[dnsallday]

The funniest thing about these people is: out of one side of their mouth they say Obama is just WORDS and SPEECHES, and words don''t mean a thing without action. Then out of the other side of their mouths (once they''ve wiped the foam off), they say the world is coming to an end over Reverend Wrights WORDS and SPEECHES. The sad thing is they aren''t able to see their own hypocracy and wouldn''t care even if they could.

[dnsallday]

You guys are right! Let''s all just vote Republican again this year. After all it is working out so well for us all. You know they have our best interests at heart!

[vmcneal2]

Hillarygrl34...Is there a reason you spend more time bashing Obama than talking about how great Hillary "sniper fire" Clinton is.

[dante805]

Only a so called BLACK uniter could say "Typical White Person" and get away with it. Imagine if McCain used the words Typical Black. Jessie jack, Al sharpy, Louie Farro and Pastor Wright would be marching in the street calling for his head. What a double standard. Time for Whites, Hispanics, and Blacks to wake up to this hate, racism, and sterotyping. VOTE GOP or IND. Barack and Michelle Obama are typical closeted haters. Don''t let them get away with it, even though the media does.

[b-easy63]

ONCE AGAIN....Obama may find himself in hot water--not for something he did, but for who he knows. Those Rezko indictments are sure to heat up and spill over and cause damage!!

Unfortunately for Hillary--she can''''''''t catch a break, soon to potentially break in the news is the story before the California appeals court which could DeLay her candidacy for good. this time evidence shows that Hillary (HERSELF ONCE AGAIN)was involved. At issue is a 250K donation made to her senatorial campaign. Her staff said she had no knowledge of it, so she was not roped into the scandal when her campaign mgr faced charges of hiding that money from the IRS.

Unfortunately VIDEO may again place Hill in deep doo, doo. It seems there is a video tape recording her discussing the fund raiser with the donors (on it, she talks about who would be there and what they will do) this means she performed what is known as a direct campaign request. donations from donors for that kind of request are limited to 25K. Since the donation was for 250K, that would be considered campaign fraud.

Woe is Hillary and Damnnnn those videos and tape recordings that make being a great liar so hard to keep up these days!!! ROTFLMAO.

Maybe Hill should quit, before she finds herself in court this time, with no way to hide her hand in shady dealings. Here''''''''s the Link: http://www.usjf.net/modules.php?op=modlo

ad&name=News&file=article&sid=344

[gypsy0126]

Hippiechick: I am with you - - separation of church and state. Clinton does not pander her religion; nor to my knowledge does McCain. Obama does it when it suits him as he did in TX - played it up; showing that he was a Christian in a prayer cirle, pandering to the born-again, evangelicals, and mentioning right off in TX, that he was just prayed over. In IA, he played it down and was advised to distance himself from church affiliations which might harm him in the vote. Hucklebee - - unbelievable!!!

[hippychicky-2009]

"John McCain now leads Obama by 10 points and Clinton by 7 points. The lead keeps widening"Posted by trapbreak

Wow, now that is a scary thought. I consider myself pretty liberal in stance on just about all things. I believe that this race war, is just a bunch of political nonsense. Its a ploy to distract us from the real issues.
Its not about race.
I don''t care if our president is purple, as long as he/she is a good leader.However,
I do not like the idea of another president with religious affliations, from any party.
I prefer a stanch seperation of church and state.

[vmcneal2]

News Flash...McCain said we should talk more with our Allies..DUH Well I guess that pretty much sums up McCain''s foreign policy.

[vmcneal2]

Hey Muddyrose..That''s Mr.Numbnut to you.

[truthbug]

WRIGHT is not running for presidency.
OBAMA is running for presidency.

WRIGHT said anti-white and anti-american remarks.
WRIGHT is OBAMA''''s adviser and uncle by heart.
WRIGHT''''s ideas reflects OBAMA''''s mind and his wife have the same tone.
OBAMA can not disown WRIGHT.

This is like a white person not disowning KKK.
OBAMA is a closet WRIGHT double.
OBAMA is WRIGHT.

[vmcneal2]

Hillarygrl34...Not all anti-Omama people are racist but people like this clown Pelosisah02 who refer to people as tar baby and Stepin Fitchit are clearly racist.

[mudrose-2009]

Dont let the Obama supporters call you racist either , that is so 90''''s. Thats there way of saying stop telling the truth or ill call you a racist.

Posted by Hillarygrl34

You mean like this numbnut below:

mudrose.. Thank God..your are not a typical White Person. You are a typical bigot.

Posted by vmcneal2

Is this what you meant Hil?


HEY, ARE ANY OF YOU OUT THERE A "TYPICAL WHITE PERSON"? AND IF SO ARE ANY OF YOU "GARLIC NOSES"? I HEAR THE REV. WRIGHT REGARDS I-TALIANS AS "GARLIC NOSES". ANYBODY?

For you vmcneal2

[vmcneal2]

Pelosisaho2...Calm down dude. Your posts make you seem like you don''t like Black people. So just say you''re sorry and all of the decent people will forgive you.

[b-easy63]

Jesterbelle, you HAVE to see this video. It''''''''s the shocking video of Bosnia that proves Hillary told the truth!!! YOu will LYAO!!

http://wonkette.com/372675/sho

cking-bosnia-video-proves-hillary-told
-t
he-truth