President Obama, The Warrior - Next Stop, Afghanistan

For all of his days on the national political stage, President Barack Obama has cast himself as a thinking man's leader, far more likely to use diplomacy than bombs to achieve his goals with foreign governments.

But President Obama is sounding a lot like President Bush these days when it comes to the war in Afghanistan. ...

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President Obama Photos

President Barack Obama speaks at the Veterans of Foreign Wars National Convention in Phoenix, Monday, Aug. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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President Obama Pictures

HONG KONG August 18, 2009 (AFP) - AFP photo coverage advisory . Tel: (852) 2829 6206. Duty editor: Edmund Edwardes Jones..--ASIA--.TOKYO/OSAKA: Start of 12-day official campaign for Japan's August 30 general election.TAIWAN/CHINA: Aftermath of Typhoon Morakot.AFGHANISTAN: Build up to the August 20 presidential elections.PAKISTAN: Returning IDPs and situation in general as available.JAKARTA: Independence day parade.DELHI: Nepalese Prime Minister Madav Kumar Nepal visits..--MIDEAST--.DAMASCUS: Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki visits Syria for talks with President Bashar al-Assad.TEHRAN: Political developments as available.BAGHDAD/JERUSALEM: Situation as develops..--AMERICAS--.WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama meets with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.VENEZUELA: President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Mohammed Ibn Chambas visits.HONDURAS: Situation following coup d'etat..Your opinion matters - Online customer satisfaction survey.Click here to win one of 50 copies of the AFP Yearbook for 2009. .http://www.sphinxonline.net/afpmarketing/photo2008/start.htm (Photo credit should read AFP/AFP/Getty Images)

AFP/Getty Images

Two Iraqi boys hold plastic flowers in their hands as US soldiers (L) stand guard during the inauguration of a US-funded project to support small businesses in a northeastern suburb of Baghdad on August 18, 2009. US President Barack Obama warned on August 17 that Iraqis would be tested by more "senseless" violence but vowed the United States would meet its deadline to pull out all troops by the end of 2011. AFP PHOTO/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)

AFP/Getty Images

An Iraqi boys talks to a US soldier standing guard next to his armoured vehicle during the inauguration of a US-funded project to support small businesses in a northeastern suburb of Baghdad on August 18, 2009. US President Barack Obama warned on August 17 that Iraqis would be tested by more "senseless" violence but vowed the United States would meet its deadline to pull out all troops by the end of 2011. AFP PHOTO/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)

AFP/Getty Images

A US soldier stands guard during the inauguration of a US-funded project to support small businesses in a northeastern suburb of Baghdad on August 18, 2009. US President Barack Obama warned on August 17 that Iraqis would be tested by more "senseless" violence but vowed the United States would meet its deadline to pull out all troops by the end of 2011. AFP PHOTO/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)

AFP/Getty Images

Iraqi soldiers (R) join US troops guarding the inauguration ceremony of a US-funded project to support small businesses in a northeastern suburb of Baghdad on August 18, 2009. US President Barack Obama warned on August 17 that Iraqis would be tested by more "senseless" violence but vowed the United States would meet its deadline to pull out all troops by the end of 2011. AFP PHOTO/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)

AFP/Getty Images

US soldiers patrol a northeastern suburb of Baghdad during the inauguration of a US-funded project to support small businesses on August 18, 2009. US President Barack Obama warned on August 17 that Iraqis would be tested by more "senseless" violence but vowed the United States would meet its deadline to pull out all troops by the end of 2011. AFP PHOTO/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)

AFP/Getty Images

Iraqi children stand next to US soldiers guarding an inauguration ceremony for a US-funded project to support small businesses in a northeastern suburb of Baghdad on August 18, 2009. US President Barack Obama warned on August 17 that Iraqis would be tested by more "senseless" violence but vowed the United States would meet its deadline to pull out all troops by the end of 2011. AFP PHOTO/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)

AFP/Getty Images

Iraqi boys look at the tattoo on an American soldier's hand during the inauguration of a US-funded project to support small businesses in a northeastern suburb of Baghdad on August 18, 2009. US President Barack Obama warned on August 17 that Iraqis would be tested by more "senseless" violence but vowed the United States would meet its deadline to pull out all troops by the end of 2011. AFP PHOTO/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)

AFP/Getty Images

An Iraqi girl holds her mother's hands as she plays next to US soldiers standing guard during the inauguration of a US-funded project to support small businesses in a northeastern suburb of Baghdad on August 18, 2009. US President Barack Obama warned on August 17 that Iraqis would be tested by more "senseless" violence but vowed the United States would meet its deadline to pull out all troops by the end of 2011. AFP PHOTO/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)

AFP/Getty Images

Iraqi children stand next to US soldiers during the inauguration of a US-funded project to support small businesses in a northeastern suburb of Baghdad on August 18, 2009. US President Barack Obama warned on August 17 that Iraqis would be tested by more "senseless" violence but vowed the United States would meet its deadline to pull out all troops by the end of 2011. AFP PHOTO/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)

AFP/Getty Images

In a speech Monday, Obama said Americans ought to get ready for a protracted battle in Afghanistan, ahead of a key election there later this week. Though Obama said he would continue troop pullouts in Iraq, the news that Afghanistan will continue to be a focus of fighting won't thrill progressive Democrats.

Obama sounded absolutely Bush-like saying "Those who attacked America on 9/11 are plotting to do so again. If left unchecked, the Taliban insurgency will mean an even larger safe haven from which al Qaeda would plot to kill more Americans."

The comments won't endear Obama to his liberal base of support, which is strongly anti-war in both Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.

Obama has also moved from his most progressive supporters in the latest round of negotiations over health care reform. Over the weekend, administration officials said they will retreat from the government option in the health care package that is preferred by liberals.

President Obama is learning that running a nation is far different than running a campaign and that a president may have to disappoint his base of support to govern effectively. Its a similar lesson President Bush learned as conservative Republicans voiced dismay with many of his policies.

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Paul Shepard blogs the Democrat side of politics for Black Voices. He has been a journalist for 16 years on the national urban/minority affairs beat for the Cleveland Plain Dealer and for AP in Washington, D.C. He now runs his own public affairs firm, Shepard Strategic Communications.