I'm less concerned about Obama's waffling than about his anaemic poll numbers. I never for a moment believed he was going to renegotiate NAFTA although the switch on FISA surprised me and the wobbling on Iraq will be fatal unless he clearly reasserts the difference between his position and Bush/McCains. Given that we have a president at 28% and 80% of the country thinking we are going in the wrong direction, the fact that Obama is only about 6% ahead is bad news. If pointing out this elephant in the room makes me a concern troll so be it but then the Obamanauts were never much attached to reality.
Bill Clinton beat George Bush by 6%. Bush beat Dukakis by 7% in 1988.
6% is healthy lead in a Presidential race. We're running against John McCain not George W. Bush and many people still think McCain is a maverick moderate, a concept that will probably survive until election day no matter what we do. None of our candidate, not Hillary or Edwards or Biden or Richardson would be doing much better.
If the election was held today and Obama beat McCain by 6%, it would be an electoral landslide.
BTW, did you know that even before Obama's "wobbling" on Iraq, a majority of people trusted McCain on the issue? At the end of the Democratic Primary, McCain beat Obama on the issue;
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/25 5435
I think it was Gallup that had the two tied on the issue only a week or two ago.
above comment is talking poll numbers; you the actual election numbers. Bush beat Dukakis, but the pre-election polls had Dukakis leading Bush by about the same percent as Obama now leads McCain.
A hint: Pointing out poll numbers won't make you a troll. Using needlessly dismissive language like "Obamanauts" might.
Well I like to pull their noses occasionally because they are such hypocrites. Six months ago Nafta was a pact with the devil which Obama was going to put right, now they say he's making a tactical adjustment. I never believed he would touch NAFTA and don't think he should but I was ticked when they trashed Bill unmercifully for passing it. Obama has already backed off on FISA and shows signs of wobbling on Iraq, the WSJ ed page was making fun of him a couple of days ago for being a Bush clone, if these things don't bother you they bother me because for me as for many dems the war and the reckless stupidity of Bushco in prosecuting it are huge issues.
I agree on FISA its indefensible.
You are wrong on Iraq and are simply by the media bullshit hook, line and sinker.
For the third time today: He has not shifted at all. Not even 0.1%. Anybody that says he is was not paying attention for the last 12 months or only heard what they wanted to hear. His position in a nutshell is: When he becomes President he will change the mission in Iraq to withdraw. He will then discuss the new mission with Generals on the ground to develop the withdrawal strategy. He thinks this can be done in about 16 months but has always left the door open to longer if a shorter time would put soldiers lives in jeopardy. Please link me to his recent comments that go against this policy.
"Pulling noses" and calling people hypocrites are both the actions of a troll, no matter who's doing it. If people call you a troll, that is probably why. Look at the words you're using, not the opinions but the words, before dismissing them out of hand.
I have no problems with your differences of opinion, and hope you'll continue to express them. But insulting people is not appropriate, and not helpful.
I agree with this. Obama only leads by 4% in Gallup and 5% in Rassmussen. I can absolutely assure you that if Obama is only ahead by 4-5% at the end of the summer, camp McCain will be very, very happy.
On the other hand, the small size of his post-primary campaign bounce is probably one reason why Obama decided to back FISA. Although I hate his position on the issue, I understand the political calculus. If he had surged to a consistent 10-12 point lead, it would have been easier to stick to his guns on this. But a six point lead is pretty small given the favorability of the overall political environment.
