Sunday, 6 July, 2008
Of repositions and flip-flops; compare and contrast
Posted by Tobias Ziegler under Politics abroad | Tags: Barack Obama, John McCain, US politics |No Comments
Apparently, Obama’s “policy switches” are giving all the lefties apoplexy. He’s moving to the centre, repositioning himself for the general election. He’s flip-flopping. He’s contradicting his previous positions every time he opens his mouth.
Except that the FISA legislation providing retrospective immunity to telecommunications companies for unlawfully helping the Bush administration spy on Americans is not an issue of left-right ideology. And his statements on Iraq policy do not indicate the he has moved terribly far from where he had already positioned himself, despite the overblown media hysteria and the Republican posturing. And on FISA, he at least had the decency to treat his constituency like grown-ups and provide an explanation of his thinking, acknowledging the disagreements that can exist within a political movement.
Compare that with this (expanding) list of John McCain’s self-contradictions, in which exactly what he says appears to depend entirely on the composition of the audience standing before him or the aim of the particular statement he is delivering. The contrast is a stark one, and it should not be obscured by irresponsible media repetition of a narrative about moving to the centre and alienating the base.
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