To little fanfare and hardly any press coverage, Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama has unveiled a new senior campaign adviser over the past couple of weeks.  In a move consistent with both the messianic tone of his campaign and the "forward to the past" mentality of his platform, Obama has moved beyond the land of the living for his new adviser:  former President Richard M. Nixon.

It was Nixon who described the formula for a successful Presidential run as a Republican:  run to the right as far and as quickly as possible in the primaries, then run back to the center as quickly as possible in the general election.  Nixon's formula was unsuccessful in his 1960 endeavor, but the primary system was not yet supreme, as most states still chose delegates based on a more closed, convention-type, back room procedure.  In 1968, however, Nixon was able to beat back challengers like Nelson Rockefeller and even Ronald Reagan, among others.  Nixon then won a hard fought battle against then-VP Hubert Humphrey to win the Presidency.

In advising Obama, Nixon tweaked his advice to apply to a Democratic candidate:  now the formula is to run as far and as quickly to the left in the primaries to win the Democratic primary voters, then move toward the center now that he's clinched the nomination (barring something incredible happening at the Democratic National Convention in August).  The moving left part was easy:  National Journal rated Obama as the Senate's furthest left member (ahead of self-proclaimed Socialist Bernie Sanders of Vermont).  In both the United States Senate and the Illinois State Senate, Obama established himself as a reliable vote for leftist, statist policies; he's supported higher income and business taxes, late term abortions (even if a mistake occurs and the child is born alive), subsidies to farmers and foreclosed homeowners, handgun bans, and more government programs while opposing the war in Iraq, wiretapping of terrorists, and Social Security reform.  Running to the left was the easy part.

With Clinton defeated, the moderation began.  On the war, a strict timetable for withdrawal and a promise to "end this war" and criticism of the troop surge as ineffective has taken a different tone:  whereas once Obama promised to meet with his senior military brass and command them with a new mission, now he promises to consult with them and "refine" his policy to fit actual conditions on the ground in Iraq.  Whereas Iran was once a "little bitty country" who posed no threat to the United States security, now he calls Iran a "grave threat".  The promise to meet without preconditions with leaders like Ahmadinejad and Kim Jong Il is now being hedged.  Support for handgun bans in his own handwriting on a candidate questionnaire is dismissed as the work of staffers, and previous support for the District of Columbia's handgun ban is cast aside in light of the (politically popular) Supreme Court decision overturning it in favor of a Constitutionally-protected right to keep and bear arms.

The list continues.  Particularly while campaigning in the "Rust Belt" state of Ohio, Obama spoke out against free trade and globalization, promising a moratorium on free trade deals and even the renegotiation of current deals like NAFTA, which he unequivocally opposed.  That unequivocal opposition has become equivocation, as Obama dispatched a top economic adviser to reassure the Canadians, our top trading partner.  Now, while still decrying globalization, he is less critical of trade deals, although he still opposes the deal with Colombia to keep his labor union support in line.

Some moves are hard to square with his voting record.  As President, Obama promises a tax plan that doesn't raise taxes "one cent" on anyone making under $250,000 per year; however, Obama has not withdrawn his support for the Democratic budget plan calling for the repeal of all the so-called "Bush tax cuts", even though doing so would raise taxes on ALL taxpayers, even the most poor, as well as hurting the competitiveness of American business.  He proposes increasing the top tax bracket — the tax on the so-called "rich" — even though 85% of the top bracket is paid by small businesses filing individual returns.  He proposes raising taxes on "big corporations", even as he promises to promote competitiveness of US businesses and create jobs.  He recently supported the Senate bill to extend Presidential authority to wiretap communications from overseas terrorists into the US, even though he pledged to continue to filibuster any bill which contained lawsuit protections for American businesses.

Obama still has a long trip to make if he truly wants to campaign as a centrist.  He still promises a Big Government health care plan that includes providing the estimated 10-20 million illegal immigrants in the US with taxpayer-funded health care.  He still promises to increase the capital gains tax in spite of every previous increase resulting in lower revenues.  He still opposes free trade with Colombia, even though increased trade would open new markets for US goods as well as bolster a US ally against Venezuela's anti-American dictator Hugo Chavez.  However, as long as he keeps listening to his newest adviser, it seems he'll keep moving to the center as quickly as he can.