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Hairsplitting Obama Shifts to the Center

From gun laws to wiretapping, candidate tacks away from the left

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 27, 2008 7:13 AM CDT

(Newser) – When the Supreme Court struck down Washington, DC's ban on handguns yesterday, Barack Obama gave the opinion a muted welcome, endorsing both the right to bear arms and anti-gun laws. Obama's measured, even tortured response—after seeming to support the ban in February—is the latest in a series of calibrated positions on hot-button issues that have seen the candidate tack to the center. The New York Times analyzes Obama's new triangulations.

Everyone from FDR to George W. Bush has changed opinions, but Obama's shifts—on warrantless wiretapping, the death penalty, and campaign finance—are natural for a politician who has "shown an appreciation for the virtues of political ambiguity." Obama himself, in his second book, admitted that his political style is one of pondering and reconsideration. "I am a blank screen," he wrote.

Barack Obama enters an economic competitiveness summit, Thursday, June 26, 2008, at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
Barack Obama enters an economic competitiveness summit, Thursday, June 26, 2008, at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Barack Obama waves as his motorcade departs a hotel in Washington, Thursday, June 26, 2008 after meeting with Hillary Rodham Clinton and donors.
Barack Obama waves as his motorcade departs a hotel in Washington, Thursday, June 26, 2008 after meeting with Hillary Rodham Clinton and donors.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Barack Obama enters a Democratic fundraiser, also attended by Hillary Clinton at a hotel in Washington Thursday, June 26, 2008.
Barack Obama enters a Democratic fundraiser, also attended by Hillary Clinton at a hotel in Washington Thursday, June 26, 2008.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Barack Obama addresses a panel of business, labor and academic leaders, Thursday, June 26, 2008, during an economic discussion in Pittsburgh.
Barack Obama addresses a panel of business, labor and academic leaders, Thursday, June 26, 2008, during an economic discussion in Pittsburgh.   (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
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