Why do some on the Left keep saying that Pres. Obama is "center-right"?

[HereSince1628]

48. Left vs right is really not relevant, Obama and the DNC are pragmatists not measured that way

Ideologies can be characterized as left and right, up down, perhaps even in multidimensional hyper-space.

Pragmatism really can't be measured on a scale between ideas. It's position where it's at because that's one doable step from its previous position.

Pragmatism wanders over the cliff-face of politics from toe-hold to finger-grasp, to arm-wedge as best it can, doing 'what can be done'.

'Doing what can be done' almost always means doing less than what the unelected ideological left of the Dem base wants.

To people with ideological dreams it seems that left-appealing positions are always compromised in the direction of opponents anchored in ideology because under pragmatism they ALWAYS ARE. Compromise -is- the objective of our pragmatic leaders, and the pursue it, even if the only compromise is in their position.

Starting from the position of being dedicated to doing whats available to be done, requires a willingness to abandon or severely diminish the role of 'sacred' guiding principles. Read what the elected dems have said. In particular, read what Rahm Emmanuel has said in the past decade advocacy for pragmatism is there to be plainly seen.

More than 10 years ago the R's recognized that the DLC really weren't anchored ideologically. The r's realized that the dem leadership was motivated to compromise. The R's recognized they could get what they want by being ideologically intransigent. And, over the past decade we've seen the r's grow more and more intransigent while Dem pragmatists slowly work their way toward the right because that's what can be done.