The best comment

...I've seen yet on Obama's Iraq withdrawl plan as published in the NY Times:

July 14th, 2008 2:17 am

What Barack Obama says here is exactly what he has been saying for a long time. There is nothing really new. What surprises me is how poorly both pundits and the public have actually been listening to what he says. For example, when he said recently that he might "refine" his plans based on consultations with officers in Iraq, everyone seemed to think he was changing his position. He's specifically said similar things in the past. And the Washington Post editorial page has said he has been too rigid about his timeline: again, he has said for a while that there would be some flexibility.

In fact, most of his supposed "tack to center" recently is just a slight shift in emphasis. His support for faith-based programs and tough-love for black fathers have a long history.

It is striking that everyone in the media seizes on particular statements about issues, as if these things were important and could be understood out of context. Frankly, all Obama's statements on these issues flow from a single coherent worldview which is apparent in everything he says. For example, the call to national service, support for faith-based programs, grassroots political organization: all these stem from a belief in the power of individuals contributing to society, and of society as a communal undertaking of individuals, with government as means to facilitate these links, not an end in itself. He is neither a traditional liberal nor a traditional conservative. Perhaps too many pundits and writers from older generations simply cannot fathom this worldview, and thus continue to get it wrong in the media coverage?

-- Alan, Baltimore, MD