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Academic

: Essentially Contested America

Has the Enthusiasm Generated by Obama's Campaign Fizzled Out?

By Robert Justin Lipkin

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Sixties radical democratic leader Tom Hayden has this to say about Senator Obama's move to the center: "Call him slippery or nuanced, th:

Barack Obama's core position on Iraq has always been more ambiguous than audacious. Now it is catching up with him as his latest remarks are questioned by the Republicans, the mainstream media, and the antiwar movement. He could put his candidacy at risk if his audacity continues to shrivel. . . . I first endorsed Obama because of the nature of the movement supporting him, not his particular stands on issues. The excitement among African-Americans and young people, the audacity of their hope, still holds the promise of a new era of social activism. The force of their rising expectations, I believe, could pressure a President Obama in a progressive direction and also energize a new wave of social movements. . . . And of course, there is the need to end the Republican reign that began with a stolen election followed by eight years of war and torture, corporate gouging, environmental decay, domestic spying and right-wing court appointments, just in case we forget who Obama is running against. . . . Besides the transforming nature of an African-American presidency, the issue that matters most to me is achieving a peaceful settlement of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- and preventing American escalations in Iran and Latin America. From the beginning, Obama's symbolic 2002 position on Iraq has been very promising, reinforced again and again by his campaign pledge to "end the war" in 2009." To continue reading click here.

Is the unique, transformative dimension of Obama's campaign fizzling out? If so, Obama needs to remedy his predicament now. He can achive this by stopping his slide to the center and also by adopting some non-strandling positions. "On the one hand" and "on the other hand" might work for a large swath of issues. On some critical issues "one hand" must suffice suffice.

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Full post as published by Essentially Contested America on July 07, 2008 (boomark / email).