There have been many well warranted discussions and debates regarding Obama's changed positions. What seems be lost in all of this is that Obama supporters, like me, have not changed positon at all. It is Obama who has moved! The biggest question this poses is what is it that we support; an individual, a political party or principles?
I am a registered Democrat. I did vote for Obama in my state's primary. After Obama became the presumptive nominee he changed position on very important issues. How am I to deal with this?
The answer for me is based upon why I became a Democrat and why I supported Obama. I did NOT become a Democrat because Republicans are so bad. I became a Democrat because the Democratic Party most accurately represented my views on important issues. In other words, I based my party affiliation upon what I DO want rather than upon what I DON'T want. I want a political party which will carry forward the agenda which I view as being in the best interest of our nation.
I supported Obama because he took positions on important issues which were, in general, very close to the positons I support. He voiced a proactive agenda to move the country in a direction which I see as essential for preserving The Constitution and our established form of government.
Now I find myself part of a "Democratic" Party which is indistinguishable from the Republican Party on the major issues of the day. I am basing this statement NOT upon what congressional Democrats say, but rather upon what they do and how they vote.
Now I find myself with a presumptive Democratic nominee who no longer represents my positions on important issues. I stand exactly where I stood through the entire primary race. I have not moved at all, yet Obama and I are now at odds over important issues.
My conclusions:
- I am not willing to support a politcal party or a presidential candidate simply because they appear to be that "least worst" choice. I want a party and a president who will actively and through concious choice work to restore and uphold The Constituiton and the rule of law. Anything lesser today is simply of no value whatsoever. "To fail to row upstream is to go downstream."
- I want a president in whom I can have a reasonable degree of trust. Obama has lost all turst with me. If I support the same postions that I have supported all along and Obama and I are now at odds, whose fault is that? Who has moved?
- I deeply resent the fact that Obama has now forced us into a position of choosing the "least worst". Had Obama stuck with his original positions we would have had a clear choice between good and bad. Now we are being denied that choice by Obama himself. To make matters worse, Obama is repeating history. A watered down John Kerry lost largely because of his attempt to calculate what would get him elected rather than standing on prinicples and making his case.
Blindly supporting a poltical party or a candidate because they are part of your team, the way sports fans support their chosen team, is unthinking. A sports team paradigm is not suited to politics. "My candidate and my party, right or wrong, my candidate and my party" does not allow the flexibility required for dealing with the very fluid state of today's rapidly changing political landscape.
Obama has a choice. He can return to his original positions and abandon his ill advised attempt to caculate what he thinks will get him elected. After all, isn't such calculation exactly what we see McCain doing? McCain has done flip flops repeatedly, across the board, in an attempt to be seen as holding positions which he believes will get him elected. McCain has no principles other than the prinicple that he will do anything to become president. Has Obama also adopted this approach? If that is the case, are we really being offered a meaningful choice in November?
It is not encumbent upon me to change my positions so that I can once again support Obama. It is encumbent upon Obama to return to positions which I have supported all along if he wants to regain my support.