Obama moving to the center?

http://www.slate.com/

Slate's Political Gabfest today made some interesting points.

1. As Obama takes positions (or modifies positions) shifting to the right (withdrawing troops from Iraq, faith based initiatives, DC gun ban, voted for FISA bill that Bush supports) Is it a real shift, or political positioning?
a. From Lynette: Obama has presented himself as someone who's interested in walking down the middle of the aisle. In that, people have the expectation that to unite people, conservatives should become more liberatl. But, its just as true that liberals must become more conservative as well.
b. I add: These are the kind of things he'll have to do to win the election and also to govern in a way that gets things done. He's doing what he should do; he's demonstrating a governing style that will get results.
c. Emily thinks its okay in some cases that he shift, but she wants to know what his core issues are.
d. From Emily: He's taken some positions that are not down the line liberal positions (Faith based initiatives, supreme court death penalty decision for example). Liberal positions are not always winning positions. Lynette adds: We don't even know if the Liberal positions/issues are the mainstream Democrat positions/issues. The far left may have swept him in, but as a Democratic candidate doesn't he have a responsibility to now represent the entire Democratic party?
c. Emily's concern is that as we see him move to the right, it becomes more important for him to define what issues he wouldn't move for, what are his core values? Remind us, Obama.

2. Is the war a core issue?
a. Emily Bazelon says not necessarily. She feels that if its more realistic now to not withdraw all the troops on January 2nd, she doesn't want him to withdraw all the troops.
b. David Plotz adds: I think the war is not it. Its the notion of our stance towards the world is different, that out stance to the world is not that we dictate and the world agrees, its that we are enmeshed in a complicated web of nations and we have to deal with that in all its different ways.

3. Other core issues?
a. Emily Bazelon says - Health care, lower taxes on middle classes
b. David Plotz feels we've given him a pass on the core issues because there's this notion that his overall global vision is so attractive that we have a sense that there's some ultimately transforming way he looks at the world that's very useful.