While advocating health care reform including strict government control of health insurance, candidate Obama opposed a mandate for adults to have health insurance, and his campaign platform contained no hint of creating a government-run health insurer.  The former position appealed to the Democrat liberal base.  Candidate Obama’s opposition to a mandate placed him to Senator Clinton’s right, making him more attractive to independent voters and eliminating a potential flash point in the general election.   A year later, President Obama is eager to sign legislation enacting mandatory health insurance and creating a government run health insurer.

While strongly opposing the war in Iraq, candidate Obama stressed that Afghanistan was the critical theater in “the war on terror.”  The former position appealed to the Democrat liberal base.  By undercutting the view that he would be weak on national defense, the latter position made candidate Obama more attractive to independent voters.   A year later, President Obama has yet to decide whether Afghanistan is a critical theater in “overseas contingency operations.”

Mr. Obama’s apparently imminent action on health care and continued inaction on Afghanistan are turning conventional political wisdom on its head.  Rather than tacking left to appeal to the Democratic Party’s liberal base and moving toward the center to govern a center-right population, candidate Obama tacked to the center, while President Obama appears intent on governing from the left.

Given the bursting of the housing bubble and subsequent recession, the Obama administration’s position on bank and auto industry bailouts might be viewed by many moderates as necessary evils.  But the die has been cast on health care reform:  the President can no longer appear centrist, regardless of ultimate Congressional action on Democrats’ left-wing reform proposals.  His strong support for expanding government-run health care and his endorsement of and participation in venomous attacks on private health insurance are fully consistent with the radical agenda of Democrats’ liberal base.

The die has not been cast on Afghanistan.  If not for his stance on healthcare, a decision by the President to reject his generals’ advice on increasing troop levels might be viewed by many moderates and some conservatives as prudent and trustworthy.  As is stands, however, a decision to pull back in Afghanistan would likely convince many moderate voters that they succumbed to wishful thinking in November 2008, with potentially destructive consequences for economic freedom and domestic and international security.