Obama Veers Left — Copies Edwards

Despite a lead against Hillary Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign for the presidency has taken a sharp turn to the left as he seeks to conclusively grab the Democratic Party nomination. The Investor’s Business Daily adroitly notes that:

Barack Obama has been accused of borrowing lines from Gov. Deval Patrick, D-Mass., a supporter.

He also seems to be borrowing from former rival John Edwards.

Edwards, of course, ran a campaign geared almost exclusively to gaining favor from Big Labor bosses and union activists. Now Obama is trying a similar tact:

In campaign stops across Ohio, the Illinois senator has portrayed himself, as Edwards did, as an economic populist. Calls to national unity and transcending differences are mixed in with attacks on drug and insurance companies, calls for minimum wage hikes and an end to outsourcing.

He has stressed his ties to Big Labor, vowing action on their policy wish list, like reworking trade deals such as NAFTA and making labor organizing radically easier.

“It is time to let unions do what they do best: organize,” Obama said during a stop at a drywall factory in Lorain, Ohio. “That’s why we need to go ahead and pass the Employee Free Choice Act.”

Obama fancies himself as a man who can bring people together and give them hope.

It seems like he is more interested in bringing workers together under the union banner by force, and that gives union bosses hope.