In another move to the middle, Barack Obama on Tuesday endorsed the use of private churches to disburse public funds, a practice that critics say weakens the separation of church and state.
Obama’s embrace of faith-based initiatives, long championed by President Bush and evangelical Christians, came one day after the Democrat rebuked MoveOn.org, a liberal advocacy group that supports Obama’s presidential bid.
Although Obama is ranked as the most liberal member of the Senate by the nonpartisan National Journal magazine, he has tacked rightward on a host of issues since essentially clinching the Democratic nomination less than a month ago. The moves are aimed at making Obama more palatable to moderate voters, although there is a risk of alienating liberals.
“Memo to Obama: moving to the middle is for losers,” Arianna Huffington warned in a post on her liberal Web site, the Huffington Post. “The Obama campaign is making a very serious mistake. Tacking to the center is a losing strategy.” Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, disagreed.
“If Obama loses a bit of the left’s enthusiasm in order to pick up a broad chunk of the swing independents in the middle, it’s probably a good trade,” Sabato told The Examiner. “Activists from a party long out of power will tolerate apostasies galore. They may grumble, but their hatred of the in-power party and desire to win are so great that they will close ranks and show up at the polls in great numbers.”
In recent weeks, liberals have accused Obama of jettisoning his core ideals and moving rightward on such issues as trade, gun control, campaign finance, the death penalty and the terrorist surveillance program. On Monday, the candidate added to the list by calling for federal funds to be distributed to the needy through private religious institutions.
“Few are closer to the people than our churches, our synagogues, our temples and our mosques,” Obama said. “And that’s why Washington needs to draw on them.”
The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the government should not deputize churches, mosques and synagogues to administer social programs. Lynn has opposed Bush’s faith-based initiatives since they began in 2001.
“I am disappointed,” Lynn said. “This initiative has been a failure on all counts, and it ought to be shut down, not expanded.”
Obama insisted that while he supported Bush’s 2001 plan for faith-based initiatives, he opposed the way Bush has carried out the program. He now plans to rectify those shortcomings.
“As someone who used to teach constitutional law, I believe deeply in separation of church and state, but I don’t believe this partnership will endanger that idea,” he said.
