Obama has always been a centrist. It was the left wing of the party that annointed him their savior. This does not appear to be based on his policies but rather on his early and cautious criticism (I wouldn't go so far as to say opposition) of the war, the promise of racial reconciliation, and his rhetoric of reform - plus longstanding resentment of the Clintons. His centrist positions should not come as a big surprise. That said, he has adjusted (hm hm) his position on public financing and now will vote for the FISA compromise bill that looks an awful lot like what he opposed earlier. I take him at his word on his reasons for supporting the bill - I don't think telecom immunity is worth the political cost of holding up the bill - but there is little that has changed to justify his position other than his status as the Democratic nominee. Yes, he has always supported the death penalty (to my chagrin), but his disagreement with the Supreme Court on the child rape case seemed a bit over the top, a show to remind voters that he is not a namby-pamby opponent of capital punishment. So too, his support for finding an individual right to bear arms in the Second Amendment. Unnecessary, except to reassure those who believed he'd take away their guns. By and large, these are shrewd political moves with little likely downside, no matter what the Beltway press corps may say. Republicans will trot out the "flip flopper" label, though I think these are slender reeds on which to hang that charge. Of course, the danger is that as a relative unknown they will be able to define him as someone not to be trusted, who doesn't share their "values." That was always a concern with a candidate with so little of a national track record. From what I can see, however, Obama has shown himself to be a pragmatist, which is commendable.

Broder's column is one of the finest example of Beltway navel gazing out there. I can't imagine that the jousting between the candidates over the format of debates is going to loom very large as an issue in this election, except perhaps among Broder and his fossilized ilk.

And, just in case anyone doubted this wasn't official McCain strategy:

Baaaaaahhhhhhh

God forbid that anyone at ABC point out that this is Republican SOP. That would be like, you, know, context and stuff when they know full well that their job is stenography.

Oh, and did on Friday when he discovered that Clinton still has a self-proclaimed delegate (wouldn't want to follow up and find out if that was true, wouldja Jake?) among her delusional diehards.

Jake is my nominee for this year's poster boy for everything that's wrong with journalism.