The Reddess and I spent a pleasant evening at the Ozaukee County Republicans Lincoln Day dinner. Radio talker Vickie McKenna did a great job as MC. The evening reinforced my sense that Obama would unite the GOP base behind McCain just as much as Hillary would. It won't be the same type of visceral distrust, but I think it's becoming clear that Obama is, as my lefty Backstory colleague Dave Berkman (who I see in nothing but Obama wear) agrees, the hardest left Democrat nominee since George McGovern.
So maybe his campaign is about unity.
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Of course, I look at Obama and see him to the right of Kerry, and probably Sen. Clinton, and certainly me.
But whatever.
The National Journal -- hardly a "right wing" periodical -- recently rated Obama as the most liberal senator. Not surprisingly, Obama isn't eager to publicize this but, eventually, the Republicans will define him. If it sticks (which it should, given that it's simply a fact that he's very liberal), Obama could conceivably face a similar fate as McGovern. Of course, the media will be inclined to give Obama a pass (e.g., the lack of reporting on the National Journal rating), so it might be hard to get the truth to stick, but I can't see Obama remaining undefined all the way through the general election. For example, someone may confront him on his goofy claim a couple of days ago to be a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. Although Obama is Reaganesque in his charisma and charm, and seems inspirational even to right-wing cranks like me, his left-wing substance will eventually catch up with him, I think.
If Obama gets the nomination, and I hope he does, he will have to stand up and convince the country that he can govern better than McCain. If he can do that, he will get elected. If he can't, he won't. At least this post is about Obama's politics/positions and not wild-eyed accusations that his supporters are somehow carried away by the spirit and don't understand what we're doing.
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