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US candidates practise their U-turns

by flight737 | July 7, 2008 at 01:27 am | 90 views | add comment

There comes a time in every politician's life where the only way to win is to master one tricky maneuver and use it effectively against your opponent, the tricky U-turn. Now they have all past the theory of their political driving test but how are they doing on their practical test? For Mr McCain the tricky manoeuver is to appeal to the Republican party's base, this of course places him on a rightward trajectory but it is worth a shot, because he just can not win without their support.

For Barack Obama the tricky manoeuver has been tradition. He wooed party activist during the primaries but is now shifting to the centre of tradition now that the nomination is abut to be clinched.

Iraq
Withdrawing troops from Iraq has long been one of the central planks of Mr Obama's campaign, and was something that set him apart from other Democratic candidates running for the party's presidential nomination.
Since his campaign began, however, conditions in Iraq have changed, violence has reduced, and some commentators have suggested that Mr Obama's position is out of date.
Mr Obama himself has announced that he plans to visit Iraq, where he will make "a thorough assessment" which could lead him to "refine" his policy.
Some critics have seized on this as an indication that Mr Obama is laying the groundwork for a change in position.

Source: news.bbc.co.uk