WASHINGTON — Barack Obama, as he introduces himself to the broader voting public, is emphasizing centrist -- even conservative -- positions on hot-button issues.
In recent weeks, he toughened his stance on Iran and backed an expansion of the government's wiretapping powers. On Wednesday, he said states should be allowed to execute child rapists. When the Supreme Court the next day struck down the District of Columbia's ban on handguns, he did not complain.
These views would fit many Republican candidates, but they are the recent profile adopted by a man who has been called the most liberal Democrat in the Senate.
In the primary season, candidates' chief goal is usually to win their party's most ideologically driven voters; afterward the candidates often adjust their policy stances. John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee, has also changed tack on an array of issues. But Obama has drawn attention for the number of issues on which he has taken a moderate stance in recent days.
"I've been struck by the speed and decisiveness of his move to the center," said Will Marshall, president of the centrist Progressive Policy Institute.
At the same time, Obama has proposed a host of government spending initiatives that give Republicans plenty of ammunition to brand him a liberal. And they cite his ranking by National Journal magazine -- called misleading by Obama's aides -- that identified him as having the most liberal voting record in the Senate in 2007.
But other recent moves by Obama chart a more moderate course.
He disagreed with this week's Supreme Court decision barring the death penalty for child rape, saying that states should be able to impose such a penalty for "heinous" crimes.
Obama has long supported the death penalty, but he has also expressed doubts about whether it's an effective deterrent and applied fairly.
Obama's reaction to another Supreme Court ruling, which struck down a gun ban in Washington, D.C., stood in contrast to that of many local political leaders and was more tempered than that of many liberals. Whereas his hometown mayor, Richard M. Daley of Chicago, and Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton sharply criticized the court decision, Obama was more welcoming. He said the ruling "reinforces that if we act responsibly, we can both protect the constitutional right to bear arms and keep our communities and our children safe."
