Reminder: There's No Actual Office for 'President of the Left" - John Scalzi @ Whatever
I have to say, Scalzi makes some great points here, but the fifth and last one is the strongest rebuttal to the far left's disdain for Sen. Obama's current centrism. I just have to directly quote Scalzi because anything less would do an injustice to Scalzi's words:
Obama’s probably also aware that he’s got the left in the tank. Some folks on the left were goofy enough in 2000 to think that voting for, say, Nader, wouldn’t make a huge difference in the end, so why not make a cute little protest vote. Here in 2008, anyone on the left who isn’t planning to pull a lever for Obama probably has congenital brain damage.Scalzi is absolutely correct on this point. Sen. Obama is a politician and apparently knows both strategic planning and tactical maneuvering (unlike, say, President Bush). So while he does make some of the best, most inspiring political speeches of this generation, he also knows that politics is a game where bitchslapping your opponent early and often works. Taking positions on issues that appeal to a wider range of voters, tacitly supporting legislation that's unlikely to pass and appearing to cater to the expected base of your opponent when you have the chance is smart politics. No, it's not the Politics of Sen. Obama's speeches, but it is the politics that he has to engage in. Had he not, Sen. Obama wouldn't exist; not even State Sen. Obama. So, politely to the left, suck it up.
