Journey to the center
All candidates make a journey from their base towards the center during an election, though Senator Obama has been warned not to pursue this strategy.. Jeff Jacoby tracks Senator Obama’s peregrinations in the matter of Second Amendment rights:
As a candidate for the Illinois Legislature in the 1990s, Obama had supported legislation to “ban the manufacture, sale, and possession of handguns,” so it wasn’t surprising that he endorsed the gun ban being challenged in Heller while campaigning for president. In November, for example, his campaign told the Chicago Tribune that “Obama believes the D.C. handgun law is constitutional.” In February, when a questioner during a televised forum said, “You support the D.C. handgun ban,” Obama readily agreed: “Right.”
By March, however, his spokesman would no longer say whether Obama considered the gun ban constitutional, and when the senator was asked about it in April, he refused to give a clear answer on the grounds that “I obviously haven’t listened to the briefs and looked at all the evidence.” Still, when the court issued its 5-4 ruling last Thursday, Obama claimed that his views had been vindicated. “I have always believed,” his statement began, “that the Second Amendment protects the right of individuals to bear arms.” Then again, reported the Associated Press, “the campaign would not answer directly…when asked whether the candidate agreed with the court.”
Both Senator McCain and Senator Obama will adjust positions during the campaign, but Senator Obama’s is by far the longer journey to the center, and will require many more flip flops than have occurred to date — it could be entertaining if the MSM will but do their job.