Thursday, July 31, 2008

Dick Morris on Obama's Flip-Flops

Dick Morris has a recent article examining the current presidential race and why Obama has lost some ground. While some of the gain is due to McCain, Morris says that part of the slippage is Obama's fault. In the words of Dick Morris:

Obama has carried flip-flopping to new heights. In the space of a month and a half, this candidate -- who we don't really yet know very well -- reversed or sharply modified his positions on at least eight key issues:

  • After vowing to eschew private fundraising and take public financing, he has now refused public money.
  • Once he threatened to filibuster a bill to protect telephone companies from liability for their cooperation with national security wiretaps; now he has voted for the legislation.
  • Turning his back on a lifetime of support for gun control, he now recognizes a Second Amendment right to bear arms in the wake of the Supreme Court decision.
  • Formerly, he told the Israeli lobby that he favored an undivided Jerusalem. Now he says he didn't mean it.
  • From a 100 percent pro-choice position, he now has migrated to expressing doubts about allowing partial-birth abortions.
  • For the first time, he now speaks highly of using church-based institutions to deliver public services to the poor.
  • Having based his entire campaign on withdrawal from Iraq, he now pledges to consult with the military first.
  • During the primary, he backed merit pay for teachers -- but before the union a few weeks ago, he opposed it.
  • After specifically saying in the primaries that he disagreed with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-N.Y.) proposal to impose Social Security taxes on income over $200,000 and wanted to tax all income, he has now adopted the Clinton position.

Read the whole article here.