Can Obama move to the center?

There is now a common consensus among conservatives, independents, and even many liberals that if Barack Obama is to recover from his summer of discontent he will have to move to the center and forge a consensus that can be supported by a majority of Americans. In a post over at Contentions, Jennifer Rubin (who is fast becoming my favorite blogger) this morning references a column in the Washington Post which gathers advice for Obama on how he can recover his mojo. She excerpts from the Post column this advice from Newt Gingrich:

Obama faces a choice: He can attempt to run a left-wing government against the American people. Or he can govern from the center with a large majority of Americans supporting him. He can have either his left angry or the American people angry. We will know in September which choice he has made.

Ms. Rubin then observes correctly:

And that is really what it’s all about. Analysts and pollsters will give suggestions on rhetoric or strategy, but Obama’s dilemma is a philosophical one. He’s shown himself to be a far-Left liberal, and the country doesn’t like it. He can keep at it and try to muscle through the top agenda items on the liberal wish list, putting at risk his congressional majority and his own popularity (what remains of it). Or he can swing back to the center, start over on health care, put aside cap-and-trade, come up with a tax-reform and tax-relief plan, and get serious about spending control. That would require a heartfelt realization that his agenda is too radical and will, over time, erode his standing and potentially render him a one-term president.

But will Obama make the move to the center? Can he? I myself have mentioned a few times over the past couple of weeks that I’m not sure an individual as intellectually cloistered and morally arrogant as Obama can bring himself to compromise. Ms. Rubin harbors her own doubts:

I suspect that so long as there are allies and advisers whispering in his ear that all he needs is some rhetorical tweaking, we won’t see anything approaching a substantive revision of his agenda. If the president doesn’t correct course, the voters may do it for him in 2010. But for now, don’t get your hopes up for a swing to the center. After all, Obama is being told, and no doubt believes, that the mantle of liberalism has been passed to him from Ted Kennedy. He won’t give it up—unless the voters force him to.

As Newt Gingrich says, it won’t be long before we find out.