NYT's Michael Powell reports that Barack Obama is fighting back against the McCain meme transcribed by the press corps in recent days:
POWDER SPRINGS, Ga. — Barack Obama had heard quite enough of the complaints that he is pirouetting, leaping, lurching even, toward the political center.
He is at heart, he told a crowd in suburban Atlanta, a pretty progressive guy who just happens to pack along a complicated world view.
The real stunner in this article was that Powell actually seemed to get it. It's not that it was a puff piece -- he pointed out that Obama has maneuvered around a bit on the second amendment, for example -- but Powell also made it clear that the Iraq frenzy was deeply flawed.
...he has wavered very little from the stance he took many months ago. He favors a phased-in 16-month withdrawal. The McCain campaign has labored hard to suggest that he is inconsistent on this issue.
That's what fair reporting looks like.
© Jed Lewison