Makes me think of a hotel owner who desperately needs to fill up his or her vacancies, but won't go to the length of letting in homeless people.
I'm partial to this view:
"Obama is about winning.
And even regarding winning - his understanding is a bit different from ours.
We tend to think winning means get the most votes. But Obama won't
aggressively appeal down to win more votes, because doing that
even if it won the presidency would be antithetical to the desires
of the people who invest in him, work with him, advise and
instruct him, and most likely to his desires too. He will,
instead, try to take some religious voters from McCain, who needs
all of them to win, and he will try to get more independents to go
his way than Kerry or Gore managed to attract. In short, he and
McCain will essentially battle over a few percent of all voters,
instead of Obama seeking support from the 50% of the population
that doesn't vote at all. They would both agree that to try to
inspire the poor and disenfranchised, to give those folks real
reason for excitement and hope, is just too risky a path to take -
not for winning the election, but for pursuing elite interests.
So, the odd charade and peculiar game proceeds. A lot is of course
at stake. But there is no reason whatsoever for us to dispense
with our minds while the election goes on. And, even more, we
should work hard to prevent an odd dismissal of our own best views
infecting our thinking not just now, but after the election as
well, when we need to apply pressure rather than celebrate or
moan."
http://www.zcommunications.org/blog/view/1898
Tayssir