Obama Shifts Positions, Moves Center

Matt Lewis | July 02, 2008 7:54 AM

Two stories in today's NYT demonstrates that Barack Obama continues to seek to move toward the center in this General Election season.

The first involves Obama's switch on FISA. This is probably smart politics in the long run, but it has angered some of his supporters on the Left. The list includes Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas,

who had this to say:

“I will continue to support him,” Mr. Moulitsas said in an interview. “But I was going to write him a check, and I decided I would rather put that money with Democrats who will uphold the Constitution.”

The second example involves Obama's decision to support faith-based initiatives.

My take: While I believe George W. Bush had the best of intentions, this brand of "compassionate conservatism" concerns me. My concern, of course, is that government money comes with strings. As such, religious groups may ultimately find themselves having to follow certain "rules" in order to qualify for government funds.

Eventually, many of these religious groups will cease being religious groups at all, and will be completely co-opted by government. This is one of those rare instances where the ACLU and true conservatives are in agreement (for different reasons) on a policy decision.