August 5, 2008
Leftist Scholars Sign Letter Urging Obama Not to Veer to Center
Several prominent leftist scholars have signed “An Open Letter to Barack Obama” that urges him to stick with the positions he staked out in the Democratic primaries—when he favored adopting universal health care and withdrawing from Iraq on a fixed timetable—and not move closer to the political center in his general-election bid.
The letter, dated July 30 and published in the August 18 edition of The Nation, tells the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee: “You stand today at the head of a movement that believes deeply in the change you have claimed as the mantle of your campaign.” But, the letter says, “there have been troubling signs that you are moving away from the core commitments shared by many who have supported your campaign, toward a more cautious and centrist stance.” It cites as an example his support for changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that granted telecommunications companies immunity from prosecution for illegal wiretapping. His position on those changes, the letter says, “angered and dismayed” many of his supporters.
The letter says: “We recognize that compromise is necessary in any democracy. We understand that the pressures brought to bear on those seeking the highest office are intense. But retreating from the stands that have been the signature of your campaign will weaken the movement whose vigorous backing you need in order to win and then deliver the change you have promised.”
Among the positions the letter urges Senator Obama to stick with are those favoring improved access to abortion, the reform of drug laws, and public investments to create jobs.
The letter also says that signers “look forward to an ongoing and constructive dialogue with you when you are elected president” concerning other issues in which Senator Obama’s stated positions have varied from those of many on the left.
The letter’s signatories with ties to academe include:
- Moustafa Bayoumi, associate professor of English at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York and an advocate for the rights of Arabs in the United States and abroad
- Norman Birnbaum, a sociologist, professor emeritus of the Georgetown University Law Center, and member of The Nation‘s editorial board
- Thomas Ferguson, professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts at Boston
- Eric Foner, professor of history at Columbia University
- Richard Kim, professor of American studies at Skidmore College
- Bill McKibben, scholar-in-residence at Middlebury College and well-known environmental writer
- Frances Fox Piven, professor of political science and sociology at the City University of New York
- Marcus Raskin, professor of public policy at George Washington University and co-founder of the Institute for Policy Studies
- Robert Scheer, senior lecturer in the University of Southern California’s School of Communications
- Zephyr R. Teachout, visiting assistant professor of law at Duke University
- Howard Zinn, professor emeritus of political science at Boston University
—Peter Schmidt
Peter Schmidt | Posted on Tuesday August 5, 2008 | PermalinkComments
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Anything that angers Obama’s supporters is good news! Just a taste of the trappings of the presidency (fawing aides, luxurious campaign plane, etc…) has made Obama willing to change any position, say anything, to get elected.
http://rightwingprofessor.blogspot.com/
— rightwingprofessor Aug 5, 12:12 PM #
Okay. Any concern from the left heartens “rightwingprofessor.” We have had partisan and ideology-based polarization for too long. It is time that we have a constructive coalition in the center. We cannot expect the extreme right wing ever to become progressive. Can we expect far left people to support a choice that is in everyone’s best interests? Only time will tell…. If Obama loses support of progressives, we will continue to have the current insanity.
— Joe Erwin Aug 5, 12:52 PM #
I suggest these radical leftists get used to it. From here on out the far-Left will experience increasing dismay and disenchantment with Obama, for, as Obama’s mentor Reverend Jeremiah Wright told us, Obama is a politician. You didn’t really fall for all that claptrap about ‘change’, did you? On a positive note for Obama, any criticism leveled at him by this crew can only help him politically.
— TRB Aug 5, 12:58 PM #
Joe Erwin – your post is a fine example of “partisan and ideology-based polarization”. Nice work!
— TRB Aug 5, 01:01 PM #
Do these “prominent leftist scholars” truly believe that their support is going to get Obama, or anyone, elected? Not that I have anything against them, heaven knows. But the rules let almost anyone with a pulse vote, and in some precincts that’s probably a little too narrowly described. The slightest indication from the Obama campaign that he’s listening hard to “prominent leftist scholars” would be pounced on by the McCain camp, whose scruples are, ah , well, uh, probably above making political hay out of all that.
Can any of the highly intelligent, highly educated people on the list say with a straight face that they think their public endorsement of Senator Obama would be more helpful than Paris Hilton’s?
And if you ““look forward to an ongoing and constructive dialogue with you when you are elected president” I think you might as well take a seat and get comfortable. It’s going to be a long wait, no matter who gets elected.
— Dan Aug 5, 02:39 PM #
It’s hilarious seeing how the far left is increasingly unhinged by Obama’s alleged drive to the center. Actually, he is simply acting as any smart man would. Obama is a politician. He wants to get elected. He is talking with, and cutting deals with, anyone who can make that happen. What he will really be like will only be apparent after he is elected. But those who think we’ll see a Golden Age of Progressivism and a turn to the Left are seriously out of touch. When he gets in, the external world will drive the agenda. And because he will want a second term, he’ll follow policies in domestic security affairs that will be very, very close to what we see with George W. Bush today…To think a bunch of Leftist has-beens like Foner et. al. will have any serious influence on him is, well, about as likely as Marxism’s return to respectability in any other venue than the lotus-eating classrooms of the American university system.
— Publius Aug 5, 02:54 PM #
Egad! Here come the fading husks of kamikaze liberalism. As a lifetime liberal in his 70s I have learned that the fastest and surest way to dissipate and kill “the movement” is to lose. Relax. Obama knows what he is doing. Besides, a big part of his candidacy, which motivates “the movement,” is the need for nonpartisan coalition building in an effort to actually get things done. Obama is the best thing to happen on the political scene at least since JFK. Don’t ruin it by being so precious you bring about the tragedy of a McCain victory.
— LKP Aug 5, 03:31 PM #
THE BEST THING ABOUT OBAMA IS THAT HE WILL TAKE ANY POSITION AT ANY TIME IF IT BENEFITS HIM. SO LEFTIES MOVE OVER THIS IS ABOUT GETTING ELECTED. OBAMBA IS NOT A LEFTY…OKAY GET OVER IT LEFTIES.
— Fred D. Aug 5, 03:35 PM #
In the middle of the road you see the darndest things
Like fakirs driving round in jeeps through the city
Wearing big diamond rings and silk suits
Past corrugated tin shacks full up with kids
Oh man I dont mean a hampstead nursery
When you own a big chunk of the bloody third world
The babies just come with the scenery
—-Chrissie Hynde
— Furry Kitten Aug 5, 04:01 PM #
Since we’re quoting musicians…..
“Mr Jones and me tell each other fairy tales….“Mr jones and me look into the future
we stare at the beautiful women
she’s lookin at you oh no no she’s lookin at me
smilin in the bright lights comin through in stereo
when everybody loves me I will never be lonely…..
I wanna be a lion, we all wanna pass as cats, and we all wanna be big, big stars, but we got different reasons for that….so, believe in me
Counting Crows “Mr Jones and Me” August and Everything After (1993)‘cause I don’t believe in anything, and I wannna be someone…..who believes, who believes
— seth Aug 5, 04:13 PM #
As Emerson put it, “A foolish consistency is the
hobgoglin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.” Haven’t we had enough consistency in the last 8 years?
— NJH Aug 5, 04:45 PM #
I love Obama. I love all of the far left wing. I want what they want. The only problem is, why do they have to go into other people’s pocket to pay for it? The rich are rich for a reason, and the poor are so as well. Both can see Obama for what he really represents, pure politics, plain and simple.
War not having white guilt!
War having Black America be accountable for the embarrassment they cause the rest of us!!
Blackhawks in 09!!
Good Night Now!!
— Mark Arroyo Aug 5, 05:44 PM #
Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…me and…..me ‘n Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Jones. We gotta thing goin’ on……
no relevance, but seth made me think of it.
— Mr. Soul Aug 5, 06:13 PM #
All of this is what the looney left and its Islamist allies want: the American economy destroyed and a president endorsed by Hamas and Syria.
— Marty Aug 6, 10:25 AM #
Let’s face it. Most of the “leftist scholars” are not “scholars” at all but political activists and culture warriors masquerading as scholars. The overwhelming support for Obama — the least-qualified candidate since Taft — within the academy is testament to the triumph of activism and sentiment over reason and detached Socratic analysis within the professoriate.
— Prof. X Aug 6, 11:38 AM #
They would rather he lose?
— warren Aug 6, 12:20 PM #
Thanks Mr. Soul….
Made my day.
— seth Aug 6, 03:12 PM #