Centrist Shifts Threaten Obama's Support Among Liberals

July 9, 2008 -- In addition to healing rifts within his party after a bruising primary battle, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama faces another issue, as some liberal supporters look to recent comments the Illinois senator made that fall toward the political center and worry they're not just seeing flip-flops but betrayal.

At a town hall in Georgia Tuesday, Obama defended himself against accusations of flip-flipping and said critics who make the charges "haven't been listening".

"This whole notion that I am shifting to the center or flip-flopping on this, that and the other ... the people who say this apparently haven't been listening to me," he said, describing himself as "progressive and squarely in the Democratic camp."

To clarify, Obama said he does not believe government is the solution for everything and places high importance on personal responsibility, citing his support of programs such as faith-based initiatives as nothing new.

Obama has tried to sound more moderate on abortion rights and guns, and he has shifted to the center on a key provision of the wiretapping bill the Senate votes on later today. He no longer supports a filibuster for the warrantless wiretap bill if it includes legal immunity for telecommunications companies that allowed possibly unconstitutional warrantless wiretaps by the Bush administration.

But, for some, most glaring is the language Obama uses when discussing Iraq.

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee declared in December that he wanted to "end the war in Iraq" and "bring our troops home within 16 months."

But the situation in Iraq has changed. A top military official in Iraq told ABC News' Jonathan Karl Tuesday that al Qaeda in Iraq appears to have been nearly defeated. Pentagon data indicate violence in Baghdad having dropped from 43 attacks a day in June 2007 to four attacks a day, now offering Obama the opportunity to sound more openminded about his earlier proclamations, as when he told reporters that a pending trip to Iraq and conversations with commanders on the ground would allow him to "refine my policies." He later explained that he was not talking about his goal of withdrawing U.S. troops within 16 months.

In an interview with Diane Sawyer on "Good Morning America" today, Obama insisted "my position has not changed at all."

"I have been as crystal clear now as I was a year ago as I was six months ago that we will get out of Iraq carefully, deliberately, at a pace that is safe for our troops," Obama said, citing estimates that would bring troops home "at the pace of one to two brigades per month."

"At that pace, we would have our combat troops out in 16 months," he said. "My position has not changed at all, and what I have also repeatedly said is that as commander in chief, obviously I'd be listening to recommendations of generals on the ground but it is my job as commander in chief to set up a strategy. It's their job to execute tactics."

Obama also called Iran "a grave threat," expressing the need for working with allies to tighten economic pressure on Iran alongside "the kind of direct diplomacy that can lead to them standing down on issues like nuclear weapons."

Also during the "Good Morning America" interview, Obama expressed regret about letting his young daughters give interviews to "Access Hollywood."

Obama said the way the interview played out across the cable networks gave him a moment of pause and that he doesn't think the exposure is "healthy and it won't happen again."

Obama and his former party rival Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., are expected to hit the fundraising circuit tonight in New York City and will appear together at a women's fundraiser breakfast Thursday morning, where Obama will discuss an economic agenda for women.