Obama: Flip-flopper or Political Visionary

By Hamilton Ryan July 10, 2008

Over the past few months as the primary season came to a stunning end the people began to hear a lot of myths about Senator Barack Obama. Name calling, which has become customary of politics sense the days of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, officially commenced. The American people heard how Senator Obama was a Muslim, a terrorist, a liar, and even the Anti-Christ. All of these, one by one, were proven to be false by websites such as PolitiFact.com. Yes the truth-o-meter has been called upon many times during this campaign season, and the American people are proud to have that tool. Now a new term for Obama has begun its travel around the blogosphere, e-mail, and even at Fox News. The term has been used over and over to describe candidates throughout history. The term I am speaking of is flip-flopper.

When called a flip-flopper in politics one is immediately branded with the scarlet letter “F.” The American people look at the candidate differently. It is truly amazing how one term can bring the end of candidate before he/she ever gets started. Senator Obama has been called a flip-flopper on quite a few issues over the past few weeks of the campaign. McCain has said that he flip-flopped on Iraq. Sen. Obama quickly responded by saying, “The people who say this apparently haven’t been listening to me.” (This was taken from an ABC website, which is listed below at the end of the article). He went on to defend himself by stating that he was progressive.

The accusation died down until yesterday when it was brought up again after Obama voted to approve the new FISA compromise bill. The liberals saw it as Obama moving more central in his views, and the Republicans saw it as a chance to attack him for being a flip-flopper again. I, personally, propose a different theory. During the course of his campaign, Senator Obama has proven to stand beside the American people’s voices. He showed this by denying public funding, and instead sticking strictly to what the people of this nation donated. He showed it again when he decided to move his nomination acceptance speech to Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado instead of the typical hall that it was going to be hosted in for the delegates. He wanted his speech to be geared more toward the American citizens.

I say all of this to ask, “Is it possible that maybe what is being seen as a flip-flop could actually be him listening to the American people?” After all, we tend to flip-flop ourselves on certain issues. Maybe he is just looking out for the best interest of the citizens of this great nation. He was opposed to the original FISA-1978 bill, but now stands beside the new FISA-2008 bill. Again, many would see this as flip-flopping, but the new FISA bill has been stated as the “compromise bill.” Senator Obama was not the only Democrat to vote alongside the Republicans on this legislation. Among him were other notables in the Senate, such as, Senator Diane Feinstein (Democrat from California) and Senator Evan Bayh (Democrat from Indiana). All together there were 47 Republicans and 21 Democrats that voted to approve FISA-2008. In the House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi also voted to approve this piece of legislation. The total tally in the House came to 293-129 in approval.

Senator Obama, in short, was not on his own in voting to approve FISA-2008. He was simply voting for what he felt would make the American people safer, and he had their concerns in mind. So as the other politicos seek to challenge Sen. Barack Obama on his stance, and call him a flip-flopper, I see him as truly a progressive visionary in politics today. Here is a candidate who will truly listen to the American citizens, and take their problems to heart. He will do what he feels is right for the people. Also, might I add, that yesterday was truly a big step forward for politics in America as both political parties finally came together and formed a compromise on a particular issue. If anything, the passage of this compromise gives me a hope for a better political future; a horizon that is just beginning to peak over the mountains of this great country; a country that was built “by the people, and for the people, ‘in order to form a perfect union.’” I look forward to the day when liberals and conservatives can put aside their differences, and finally come together and listen to the people who make their voices heard every day.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/07/obama-defends-h.html