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Obama prepares his pivot

James Forsyth

Sunday, 27th April 2008

When this Democratic primary campaign finally comes to an end, Barack Obama will need to pivot back to the centre. Indeed, the drawn-out nature of the process which has seen Obama lose some of his appeal to independents and Republicans means that Obama will need to pivot more dramatically than he would if he had wrapped things up early.

On Fox News Sunday, Obama was asked to name an issue where he is prepared to break with Democratic orthodoxy and say the Republicans have the better ideas. He started off rather blandly, talking about how the Democrats went too far in regulating the economy, but then he moved to education and things got interesting. Here’s the exchange:

I think that on issues of education, I have been very clear about the fact, and sometimes I have gotten in trouble with the teachers union on this, that we should be experimenting with charter schools. We should be experimenting with different ways of compensating teachers. That –
WALLACE: You mean merit pay?
OBAMA: Well, merit pay, the way it has been designed I think that is based on just single standardized I think is a big mistake, because the way we measure performance may be skewed by whether or not the kids are coming in the school already three years or four years behind.
But I think that having assessment tools and then saying, you know what, teachers who are on career paths to become better teachers, developing themselves professionally, that we should pay excellence more. I think that’s a good idea.

If Obama were to come out for radical education reform backing vouchers, charter schools and merit pay he would show that he is not just a conventional liberal. The ensuing fight with the teachers unions would also help Obama demonstrate that he is prepared to stand up and fight for things that he believes in which would help him with downscale voters who often don’t seem him as tough enough. Making education a centre point of his campaign would also tie neatly into his own life story. In short, it would be a political winner and could do much to undo the damage that has been done to Obama’s image in the past few weeks.

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RMH

April 27th, 2008 10:46pm

Perhaps he can discuss this when he is the nominee?

And education and teachers was what nearly stopped Matt Santos.

Simon Chapman

April 28th, 2008 1:56pm

"Pivot"? Otherwise known as a "U-turn"?

Or is there a difference: a pivot is a swivel in overall direction, whilst a U-turn is an about-face on a particular issue of policy?

Either way, is a "pivot" any more edfiying or attractive than a U-turn, particularly in a politician who supposedly wants to change the way we do politics?

TGF UKIP

April 30th, 2008 11:15pm

I, too, saw the interview on FNS and thought Obama v.impressive. I also had the impression that Chris Wallace was being very gentle with him, posssibly by pre-interview negotiation or, more probably, to make sure he comes back for a proper session during the real campaign. We'll wait and see.