An AP article, excitedly beating the Obama-for-President drum, oddly referred to the Senator as “centrist”.

In recent weeks, his political stock has been rising as a potentially viable centrist candidate for president in 2008 after former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner announced earlier this month that he was bowing out of the race.

Newbusters reports on this delusional fantasy:

“Centrist”? Really? Let’s go to the record, or more specifically, to Obama’s interest-group ratings as catalogued at the indispensable Project Vote Smart.

Aside from a small smattering of ratings such as the 33% percent from Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum and the 45% from on Personal Liberties from the Republican Liberty Caucus, Obama fits the liberal profile to a ‘T.’ Examples:

• Planned Parenthood 100% in 2006.
• National Right to Life Committee 0% in 2005-2006.
• Americans for Tax Reform 0% in 2005.
• NAACP 100% in 2005.
• American Conservative Union 8 percent in 2005.
• Illinois Environmental Council 100% in 2003 .
• Children’s Defense Fund [Hillary's old beat] 100% in 2005.
• National Organization 100% in 2005.
• NRA, ‘F’ in 2004.
• Federation for American Immigration Reform 0% in 2005.
• 2005 AFL-CIO 92%.
• Americans for Democratic Action [old-style liberal organization] 100% in 2005.

In addion, National Journal’s Composite Liberal Rating scored Obama an 83, which was 15th among Senate Democrats and only 2 points behind the very-much-not-centrists Russ Feingold and Patrick Leahy. Claims of “centrist” raises the question, according to whom? In this case, only a leftwing viewpoint could lend one to find Obama “centrist”, which merely confirms what we already knew about AP.

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