Pirate's Cove

If the Times says it, it must be true!

Obama’s Test: Can a Liberal Be a Unifier?

At the core of Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign is a promise that he can transcend the starkly red-and-blue politics of the last 15 years, end the partisan and ideological wars and build a new governing majority.

To achieve the change the country wants, he says, “we need a leader who can finally move beyond the divisive politics of Washington and bring Democrats, independents and Republicans together to get things done.”

But this promise leads, inevitably, to a question: Can such a majority be built and led by Mr. Obama, whose voting record was, by one ranking, the most liberal in the Senate last year?

Uh oh, BHO is not going to be a happy camper, because he says he is not a liberal, but a progressive, which is included in the story (which, by the way, is several days old. I found the first printing in the IHT on the 23rd). What interested me is the headline of the story, Can A Liberal Be A Unifier?. The answer would be “no!”

Obviously, the Left and the Right are going to mostly disagree with domestic policy, at least at the speechifying and supporting stage. When it comes down to the individual level, liberals do not want their taxes raised or government to get involved in their lives, either. Conservatives will not support jacking up taxes, increases in social programs, government interference in our personal and business lives, and certainly not for a fascist national health care program.

Then there is national security. Protecting the USA from all foes foreign and domestic. Up through JFK, the Left and Right could generally agree that we needed to protect our country. JFK was a serious anti-communist, and relatively strong on national security. His brother Bobby was the same way, and, oops! actually served as an aide to Joe McCarthy (who was correct!), being virulently anti-communist himself. Interestingly, it was the progressives, of which Obama calls himself, that were the ones who were most against national security. That hasn’t changed.

So, there is absolutely no possible way that Conservatives, and quite a few of the moderates, will support Obama’s surrender in Iraq, surrender to al Qaeda, have cozy tea parties with folks like Ahmadinejad, and generally gut our national security apparatus.

Don’t forget though, the Times said Obama’s a liberal. Paper of record, ya know!

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