Is President Obama really a middle of the road moderate?

[asdjrocky]

Are us Liberals only disappointed because we were hoping for a Liberal, and we projected our views on to a man that didn't hold those views of the country and the world?

[phleshdef]

1. Obama is a liberal man who is a President of a country full of libs, cons and moderates.

The liberals were not solely responsible for getting him elected and thus he is not solely bound to be loyal to only liberals. He is everyone's President.

[asdjrocky]

2. So you say President Obama is a Liberal.

And most of the country is not? Don't most of us want a public option?

[phleshdef]

16. We are still clearly a divided between the 3 camps of thought as a nation.

And Obama wants a public option, he will sign a bill that has a public option... its the Senate that you need to worry about, not him.

[impik]

24. He's a Non-Ideological Liberal

He believes in many, if not every, Liberal ideas, but he's also pragmatist who think that it's better to move forward in small steps, than to insist on one huge leap and then get nothing.

[sweetloukillbot]

44. I think that's the best summation....

If you were to ask his beliefs on most specific issues, I really, truly think Obama would fall into the liberal camp, not as far left as Kucinich, but not as far right as Clinton (or Edwards or even Dean for that matter) was.

However his pragmatic nature has lead him to compromise and temper his beliefs in an attempt to get something positive done.

But then I think I'm liberal and am definitely more moderate than a lot I see here.

[Skidmore]

58. Yes. I agree. I have never had any doubts about his

philosophy nor have I had doubts about his ability use common sense when approaching the problems of the nation and the world.

[Cha]

3. Yeah, that was a real "moderate" speech he gave at

the Human Rights Campaign last night.

[asdjrocky]

4. I'm only asking questions.

Not looking for a fight. But as far as the speech goes, words are one thing, and I loved the speech, but it only takes a signature to end DADT.

[IndianaGreen]

8. Obama has STOP-LOSS authority to end discharges of LGBTs

He can stop this right now.

To end DADT is another matter, that will take an act of Congress.

[asdjrocky]

12. Thank you.

That's what I meant, he can stop it.

[MarjorieG]

57. Military asked that he not, and they have to buy in on timing. Think increased Fundamentalists in

Middle East a possible reason? Enough military want an end to DADT.

[Cha]

10. I'm not looking for a fight either..

but, I am tired of hearing.."it was just a speech".

PO is going through with this his way..not the instant gratificationers' way.

No moderate would have given that speech.

[ProSense]

5. Some people are in denial. n/t

[asdjrocky]

6. So are you saying President Obama is a Liberal President?

Only asking questions, not looking to be labeled as in denial.

[ProSense]

7. Are you unable to make that determination on your own? n/t

[asdjrocky]

9. I like input.

I like dialog. No, I'm not an idiot and I've come to some conclusions on my own.

Let me ask you, what is wrong with dialog? Is it necessary to shut down debate with insults just because the debate may reach a different outcome than you had hoped for?

[Garam_Masala]

40. Do not be dismayed because some people

just resort to insult and 1 liners when they are incapable of debate.
I have observed that a million times on every political forum.

[dionysus]

56. i'd say he's a liberal man but approaches policy as a pragmatist. which works sometimes and

sometimes it doesn't. not a raging leftist, but definitely of a liberal bent.

[JohnnyLib2]

11. Philosophical liberal, moving toward the middle.

Not the first to do so, and I don't see that as totally negative.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

13. When representing a left-leaning Chicago district he was a big liberal.

When representing a reliably blue state in the Senate he was a mainstream liberal.

When seeking the Democratic nomination he was a mainstream liberal. In the general election he was a third-way Democrat.

As President he's a somewhat liberal-leaning centrist.

He is flexible.

[asdjrocky]

14. Good answers all, and thank you.

[Enrique]

15. he's a "New Democrat"

which is not mutually exclusive with being a liberal, imo. DLCers/New Democrats can have liberal views, but New Democrat is supposed to mean that they are "open to good ideas from both sides" as they say, meaning being willing to try things like charter schools and welfare reform which traditional liberals usually fight against. Obama is right in line with that thinking.

If by "liberal" someone means someone who sticks exclusively to the liberal positions, then no way is Obama that kind of liberal. His rhetoric all along and his actions so far totally rule out calling him that kind of liberal.

[TomCADem]

17. While We Are At It, How Many Angels Can Dance On The Head Of A Pin?

These metaphysical type questions are just facinating. :)

[rug]

18. Not as many positions as Obama can juggle.

[verges]

19. Forty-two.. nt

[asdjrocky]

21. I'm glad you like it.

I've always been one of those people that likes questions of all sorts. It's how we learn things.

[Quantess]

20. I can only speak for myself. I say that's true.

Obama is a centrist moderate. A conservative Democrat.
I wish he were a socialist.

[stray cat]

22. He ran as a moderate

[Blue_In_AK]

23. He is who I thought he would be.

I had hoped that he would be more progressive, more forceful -- in actions, not words (I love his words) -- less conciliatory, but I'm not surprised that so far he hasn't been my dream president. I doubt that any one human could be. :)

[elana i am]

25. i'd call him either a progressive moderate

or a very conservative liberal.

i did no projecting and i have no disappointment. my candidate was kucinich, the only progressive in the bunch. i got out-voted and my candidate didn't win. such is life.

i have no expectation that obama's style of governance is going to meet my progressive standards. that said, in spite of voting for kucinich, i'm very much a pragmatist. considering the colossal challenges he faced when he took office i think obama's doing quite a respectable job living up to his promises.

if you expected him to be progressive on gay rights or do immediate withdrawl from iraq and afghanistan, or have a populist bent, then yes, you were SERIOUSLY projecting and you are bound to be disappointed. he promised none of those things. he did say he doesn't believe in gay marriage. he did say that he believes all sides of an issue, including business interests, have a place at the bargaining table. he did say he believes we should be in afghanistan.

he's doing what he said he would do, but he's doing it in a very pragmatic and moderate way.

[asdjrocky]

28. I agree with almost everything you said.

Although, I did expect faster action on DADT.

I never thought he was a Liberal, or even Progressive. As far as the withdrawal from Iraq or Afghanistan, I listened to what he said during the campaign and did not expect in any way an immediate withdrawal.

I do expect a stronger voice for medical care for all, and that would be my biggest disappointment so far. I don't think you can even call 45,000 people a year dying a Liberal issue, at this point it's a human issue.

Summing it up, I'm happy aside from a few key problems... HCR, DADT and his closeness to Wall Street. I knew about the Wall St. thing during the campaign and I resigned myself to accepting it, but the on other two issues I did expect more and I think more was promised to the American people during the campaign.

[DCBob]

42. If your candidate had "won", your President would be John McCain.

IMO.

[polichick]

26. imo liberals are disappointed by his comfort with corporate influence in DC...

...which shows in the personnel he has chosen, deals he's cut, and his tendency to tweak around the edges in order not to upset the corporate powers that be too much.

[asdjrocky]

29. Hey polichick.

I think those are valid points. Any real Liberal will have a problem with those guys.

Maybe I just expect that from our Presidents because been conditioned to expect less, being one of the lower 99%.

I like him as a President, I do, but that won't stop me from speaking out when I see something wrong.

[polichick]

32. Hi asdjrocky :)

I'm not sure all libs feel that way, but I'm hearing it from those I worked with on the campaign and I feel that way.

imo Obama never did seem as liberal as Republicans claimed he was, but he has a different view of the world than most politicians in DC and that breaks a mold that has long needed breaking.

I'm with you ~ I like the prez, glad every day that he's in the WH and not McShame and Psycho Sarah, but I'll keep working with liberal groups to hold his feet to the Democratic fire.

[jwirr]

27. I honestly do not think we are going to be able to answer that until

his the end of his term/s and we see what his diplomacy has accomplished both at home and away.

[paulk]

30. yes,

and I never projected liberal views on him. I've always felt he was a moderate/centrist - that's what he said he was, and, if anything, he's been more to the right side of the center than I expected him to be, especially on social issues.

[depakid]

31. Center right on most issues

based on the record.

[asdjrocky]

33. That's been my assessment so far.

I truly like and admire our President, and I'm truly hopeful I'll see it differently by the end of his term.

[billh58]

34. We would do well

to remember JFK's definition of "Liberal":

http://www.liberalparty.org/JFKLPAcceptance.html

What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label "Liberal?" If by "Liberal" they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer's dollar, then the record of this party and its members demonstrate that we are not that kind of "Liberal." But if by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people -- their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties -- someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal."

I see little difference between President Kennedy's definition of the term "Liberal," and President Obama's commitment to the same goals and ideals.

[asdjrocky]

36. And I would be very happy with that.

If either of these two Presidents followed through on all of those words.

[billh58]

37. One was not

allowed to fulfill his potential, and the other is following through at a pace which is too slow for some in this country, and much too fast for those on the other side.

[asdjrocky]

39. "civil rights, and their civil liberties"

FISA? The Patriot Act? C'mon man, there is solid evidence of President Obama not following through.

As for Kennedy you have to look at COINTELPRO. If you don't know what it is, look it up. And while you're at it take a look at the Church Committee findings.

[billh58]

43. Sigh...

I yield to your moral outrage and political superiority complex. I was attempting to answer your question in a civil manner, but you just had to turn it into a "you're either with me, or you're against me" circular argument. Why would you automatically assume that I am ignorant about COINTELPRO (which was a brainchild of J. Edgar Hoover and was initiated in 1956 five years before JFK took office)?

Your reference to the Church Committee (which was formed primarily due to Nixon's Watergate fiasco) leads me to believe that you may be another 9/11 conspiracy theorist, and that would explain a few things. FISA and the Patriot Act are matters for the Congress to deal with, as they are the Branch who passed both Acts well before President Obama took office.

Both JFK and President Obama were/are Liberals in the classic sense of the term, and I voted for both of them.

[dflprincess]

54. And selling us out to the insurance companies is not following through

So far he seems more concerned with protecting the status quo than making any meaningful changes.

[msallied]

41. Best answer of the lot.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

35. "Somewhat Left of Center"

Depending on your definition of "left of center" and on the issue. He's more liheral than the Blue Dogs on most issues, but there are others in the Party (i.e. Kucinich) who are vastly more liberal than the President.

[ProSense]

45. "there are others in the Party (i.e. Kucinich) who are vastly more liberal " By what standard?

Here are some of Kucinich's votes

Voted YES on banning Family Planning funding in US aid abroad. (May 2001)

Voted YES on federal crime to harm fetus while committing other crimes. (Apr 2001)

Voted YES on banning partial-birth abortions. (Apr 2000)

Voted YES on constitutional amendment prohibiting flag desecration. (Jun 2003)

Voted NO on end offshore tax havens and promote small business. (Oct 2004)

Now what exactly makes him vastly more liberal than the President.

Is it because he supports gay marriage? So do a number of Democrats in the House and Senate.

Is it because he supports single payer? So do a number of other Democrats in Congress.

Other than supporting impeachment and making these statement in opposition of stuff, what makes Kucinich vastly more liberal than a lot of other Democrats, including Obama?

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

48. Kucinich is well-known as being opposed to abortion...

Unlike the other knuckle-draggers in the House, Kucinich also cares about what happens to a child AFTER he/she is born.

Kucinich has a 95% approval rating from Americans for Democratic Action, and a 100% rating from the ACLA. Seriously, trying to argue that Dennis Kucinich isn't liberal, is like arguing that water isn't wet.

[ProSense]

49. " 95% approval rating from Americans for Democratic Action"

Schumer had a 100%, does that make him more liberal than Kucinich?

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

50. Possibly...

Look, this is like having one of those "who is the best second baseman of all time" arguments. In my opinion Kucinich is to the left of Obama on matters of economics and foreign policy.

[ProSense]

51. "Look, this is like having one of those "who is the best second baseman of all time" arguments."

Then what is the OP?

I don't disagree that Kucinich is to the left of Obama. So are a few other Democrats, but using them to try to portray Obama as a moderate is ridiculous. Also, doing so to prove that Obama isn't a progressive President is beyond ludicrous.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

53. I wasn't trying to prove anything in particular

I think Obama is a progressive, less than some and more so than others.

And by the way...Rogers Hornsby. Totally.

[billh58]

46. And you have

just hit the nail on the head. The DK Far-Left camp believes that anyone who doesn't agree with them is "selling out," and expect the rest of us to side with their calls for instant gratification.

[ChiciB1]

38. Wasn't My First OR Second Choice... but I Did Vote For Him... BECAUSE!

However, I have NEVER felt he was in ANY WAY liberal at all! When many down here in Florida called him such a LIBERAL I always had to laugh in their faces!!

Not a Liberal for sure from where I sit, not even close. Moderate?? Not sure about that either! I'll give it more time, but the trend with Goldman Sachs DOES bother me A LOT!!

I just wish some answers to questions were MUCH clearer and I tire of TRYING to figure out just WHERE he's at! I see so many times, the reference that he's playing a "super" chess game, but for me I need to see which side of the game he's playing. So far, it looks... right down the middle!

So as a LIBERAL, I jumped off the middle of the fence some time ago! I'm more Bernie Sanders and the late Paul Wellstone type!

But playing games is what D.C. is ALL ABOUT, so WHO KNOWS???

[Hansel]

47. Yes, in answer to your question in the body of the OP.

Obama is a pragmatic who leans toward a progressive viewpoint. If he could do everything that Liberals wanted him to do (to a point) he would. But he's realistic enough that there is a process you have to go through and that you are not likely to get everything you want.

He also knows that you are more likely to get more of what you want if you don't act like a bull in a china shop in the process of attempting to make change. You need to sway people to your side, not lasso them by the neck and drag them over.

[ipaint]

52. Center right, neo liberal in policies.

Progressive in speeches.

[iceman66]

55. You have to put things in perspective.

Obama may not be as liberal as you or I would like him to be, but he is about as liberal a President as our current electoral system is likely to produce.

Just look at his Senate voting record - Obama was to the left of almost all of his Democratic colleagues.

Until we get the money out of the system, you're not going to see a lot of TRUE liberals getting elected to national office, outside of 'safe' Democratic House districts.

[Hawkowl]

59. Obama is a stereotypical liberal

I mean stereotypical in the worst way, i.e; he talks a good game but when it's time for action or policy, he shows extreme lack of spine and downright political cowardice. All in the name of pragmatism.

Obama needs to offer a tougher side that refuses to be bullied for his liberal beliefs, or at least for his support of the liberal wing of the party. Tough like LBJ, Truman and FDR.