Obama rejects charges of flip-flopping

By Caren Bohan

POWDER SPRINGS, Georgia (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama rejected charges on Tuesday that he has shifted positions on Iraq and other issues as part of a move to the political center now that he is his party's nominee.

As he positions himself for the battle against Republican John McCain, the Illinois senator softened an earlier vow to reopen the North American Free Trade Agreement, did not oppose a Supreme Court decision striking down Washington's gun ban and said he would support expanding the government's wiretap authority.

Most recently, he signaled greater flexibility on his pledge to quickly pull U.S. troops out of Iraq, telling reporters last week he might "refine" his views based on what happens on the ground.

Asked about his Iraq policy at a town hall meeting in Powder Springs, Obama rejected claims he was softening his insistence on a withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country.

He also said he hoped he could more generally counter "this whole notion that I am shifting to the center or that I'm flip-flopping or this or that."

"You know, the people who say this apparently haven't been listening to me," Obama said.

The McCain campaign has eagerly accused Obama of shifting position for political expediency -- a tactic Republican President George W. Bush used successfully in his 2004 re-election campaign against Democrat John Kerry.

"I think there's been definitely shifts in position, and one of them is Iraq," McCain told the Fox News Channel on Tuesday.