Obama ditches ‘CHANGE’ for lukewarm can of Bush-Lite

Saddled with a 23 percent approval rating, perhaps the lowest in polling history, President George W. Bush has all the trappings of a president in over his head. Plagued by an economic downturn, a gloomy international scene, and a party in disarray, Bush has become the quintessential punching bag for the left, the right, and the mass media.

Who would have guessed that by Independence Day weekend, Democrat Barack Obama would be lining up with the most unpopular president since the inception of polling on a host of critical issues?

As you may recall, Obama, Hillary Clinton, and the rest of the Democrat primary field spent the past 12 months traveling the nation talking about how they differ from Bush, never hesitating to point out how George W. Bush is the most heinous scourge on civilization since the Bubonic Plague ripped through Europe.

You may also recall Senator Obama’s frequent attempts to characterize Senator Clinton as “Bush-Lite,” accusing her of supporting Bush on the war, on wiretapping, and on other issues that would make her less attractive in the eyes of the predominately liberal primary electorate. Invoking an empty term as the catch-all for his policies, Obama promised to bring “change” to the White House. Now the only “change” the electorate is seeing is Obama’s frequently shifting issue positions, making even John McCain look like a piker.

Used here as a typical campaign nostrum—a scheme designed to sell false political medicine—the term “change” can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. In Obama’s case, it seems to be enough of a selling point to help open up a 15 point lead over McCain.

Below is a snapshot of additional results from last week’s Bloomberg/L.A. Times poll that have emboldened Democrats, concerned Republicans, and given Obama the confidence to already begin moving away from some of his earlier positions.

• 13% of voters say the country is on the right track.
• Women now favor Obama 54-29.
• 81% of Obama voters are enthusiastic about him.
• 45% of McCain voters are enthusiastic about his candidacy.
• Two thirds say the U.S. should withdraw from Iraq immediately or within a year.
• 29% say they have a positive view of the GOP.

Perhaps fearful of Republican attacks on security policy or simply deciding that now is the time to let his real positions be known, Obama is offering some slight “change” to his originally prescribed “change.” The Politico reported on July 3 that Obama is now flip-flopping on his position on the Iraq War—you know—the war that he demonized Hillary for supporting and pledging to stay and fight. This being the same war that he promised his cheering throngs of supporters during the primary that he would end.

In fact, his own campaign web page notes that “Obama will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq. He will remove one to two combat brigades each month and have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months.”

According to Mike Allen at The Politico, “…Obama and his advisors repudiated that pledge, saying he is reevaluating his plan.” David Axelrod from Obama’s campaign commented last week on CNN that Obama is “not wedded to that [prior withdraw position] in the face of events.”

Offering further “change,” Obama has backed away on his promise on Jan. 28 to oppose immunity for telephone companies involved in the Bush administration’s questionable warrantless wiretapping efforts. BBC reports that this “change” comes from the man who pledged “to support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies.” What a difference six months can make.

While we’re talking about change, I distinctly recall Obama’s strong words calling for an America First style trade policy that rejects horrendous deals like NAFTA and the WTO which drive American jobs overseas and place unreasonable trade restrictions on commerce by creating a network of managed trade rather than free trade. BBC reports that Obama now is seeking to create new “change” by reconsidering his criticism of managed trade.

Several weeks ago while the Democrat battle was still waging, Obama would have used Bush’s 23 percent approval rating to tarnish Hillary Clinton for voting for the war, for supporting wiretapping, and for being wedded to a record of supporting managed trade. With Senator Clinton being disposed of and Obama seeking a way to expand his slice of the electoral pie, all bets for withdraw from Iraq, stopping warrantless wire-tapping, and installing an American First trade policy seem to have vanished.

Jack Kelley at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette points out even more “change” in the Obama rhetoric between just weeks ago and today. Obama now supports welfare reform after long opposing it. He changed his mind and opted out of federal matching funds after saying he’d take them. Obama, once a supporter of easing the Cuba trade embargo now supports it. He has also flip-flopped massively on guns and the death penalty, once opposing capital punishment and now favoring it. Recently supportive of handgun bans, he apparently is now against such bans.

Could the Democrats once again be snatching defeat from the jaws of victory by aligning their candidate with Bush and his 23 percent approval rating? Perhaps Obama’s switch to Bush-Lite will give the voters a reason to consider another type of “change,” this time by changing their vote to someone other than Barack Obama.

Nathan R. Shrader is a political strategist from western Pennsylvania. He is the founder and president of Bull Moose Partners. He can be reached at nathanrshrader@yahoo.com.

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