A lot of things have changed for Barack Obama since 2008, as inevitably happens when a largely unknown, charismatic challenger becomes a well-known and battle-damaged incumbent.<\/p>\n
But perhaps the most dramatic evolution, and likely the most dangerous, for Mr. Obama’s re-election chances, is the stiffening narrative among liberals that this is a man who lacks the moral vision to lead.<\/p>\n
A lot has been made of the headwind that the Obama campaign faces in conservative media.<\/p>\n
But more damaging is the fact that left-of-center media outlets from the Huffingtonpost to Salon to Democracy Now — and liberal icons from Bill Maher to Jon Stewart — have been hammering at the idea that this Administration lacks a clear and meaningful compass.<\/p>\n
Exhibit A in their prosecution of Mr. Obama is his relentless pursuit of terrorists, and his embrace of Homeland Security measures first envisioned during the Bush years.<\/p>\n
Writing in Salon<\/a>, prominent liberal write Glenn Greenwald suggested this week that the Obama years have shown “how extremism is normalized.”<\/p>\n Now we have this question:\u00a0if the U.S. President can openly declare the power to order even the nation\u2019s own citizens executed by the CIA in total secrecy, without charges or a whiff of transparency or oversight, what can\u2019t he do?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Responding to the news that the Obama administration developed a “kill list” for alleged terrorists, Jason Linkins reported on the left-of-center backlash for the Huffingtonpost<\/a>, which described the issue as “a test of Obama’s principles and will.”<\/p>\n Well, in response to this, one concerned citizen has taken to the White House’s “We The People” petitions portal to request the creation of a “Do Not Kill” list<\/a>, which perhaps should be known as the “Please Consider According Me the Due Process of Law That I’m Constitutionally Entitled to Before You Allow Me to Be Summarily Executed by Joystick-Wielding Sociopaths” list.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n For many left-of-center pundits, the national security issue fits neatly with a growing conviction that Obama has “centered” himself well to the right of their own moral comfort zone.<\/p>\n Guantanomo Bay remains open.\u00a0 Mr. Obama has made no effort to decriminalize marijuana, despite evidence of his own drug use. His stand on climate change has ranged from tepid to silent.<\/p>\n Until recently, he refused to take a stand supporting same-sex marriage, and still won’t support an effort to legalize gay weddings on a Federal level.<\/p>\n Mr. Obama’s administration has also accelerated efforts to identify and deport undocumented workers, many of them Hispanics.<\/p>\n