Is Obama Really a Democrat? (12-29-11)

This was in Americablog:

Glenn Greenwald has a nice observation in The Guardian that's worth noticing.

His key point — Obama is so far to the right, especially on national security, that no GOP candidate can get to his right and look credible.

 This poll shows the American people think that Obama is liberal...mildly, though:

On a scale of 1 to 5 -- with 1 being very liberal and 5 being very conservative -- respondents rated themselves as a 3.3 ideologically, slightly to the right of center.

They perceive Obama to be a 2.3, to the left of center.

[...]When it comes to the president, Gallup reported, "a majority of Americans, 57%, perceive Obama to be liberal, with 23% describing his views as moderate and 15% as conservative."

[...]Obama's mean ideology rating four years ago was 2.5, essentially the same as now, and he was perceived to be slightly more liberal (with a score of 2.2) immediately before the election. Americans' own ideology ratings in December 2007 (3.2) and October 2008 (3.3) were essentially the same as now, and closer to John McCain's (3.4 in December 2007 and 3.7 in October 2008) than Obama's.

Doesn't quite make the case that Obama is the extreme liberal he is made out to be by the Right. Only 57% think he is liberal. In fact, his 2.5 rating in 2008 is right down the middle, neither left nor right. Might explain his success in the Presidential election that year. Not exactly what Obama's supporters thought they were getting. They thought he was a progressive. He's proven not to be one; far from it.

The President does everything for political reasons. He talks the talk but betrays his words with his actions:

That news was sealed in The Washington Post this week with a story that didn’t see much light of day, published as it was on Christmas Day. The Post reported that politics, not policy, has been largely behind the President’s green jobs program:

Meant to create jobs and cut reliance on foreign oil, Obama’s green-technology program was infused with politics at every level, The Washington Post found in an analysis of thousands of memos, company records and internal e-mails. Political considerations were raised repeatedly by company investors, Energy Department bureaucrats and White House officials.