Since earning the enough delegates to secure the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, Senator Barack Obama has begun the "shift to the center"--more accuaretly described as the right--that has come to characterize recent Democratic Party presidential campaigns.

Obama--who has campaigned on a platform of "hope" and "change" in Washington--has either shifted positions or taken more right-leaning positions on a variety of issues in recent weeks. He has surrounded himself with neoliberal economic advisors, expressed strong support for Israel, has rejected public financing, and most recently, has taken right-leaning stands on recent decisions by the United States Supreme Court. Obama has backed away from his previous support of Washington DC's gun ban and instead expressed support for the Court's overturning of the ban. Similarly, on Wednesday of last week, he rejected the Supreme Court's overturning of the death penalty for child rapists, saying that the death penalty is an appropriate punishment. However, Obama has previously stated that he does not believe the death penalty is an effective crime deterrent.