Ben and Barack: Like Peas in a Pod

If it is accurate, Benjamin Netanyahu's account of a conversation between him and Democratic-candidate Obama last summer confirms what only the most wilfully blind individuals cannot see: Obama courted the Left, but moved to the center after he secured the Democratic nomination (which is hardly an unusual move). According to an article in the New York Times, Netanyahu describes a portion of their meeting as follows:

As it was ending Mr. Obama pulled Mr. Netanyahu aside from their aides to a corner of the room in the King David Hotel.

“You and I have a lot in common,” Mr. Obama said, according to Mr. Netanyahu’s account. “I started on the left and moved to the center. You started on the right and moved to the center. We are both pragmatists who like to get things done.”

Question: Did Obama really describe himself as a "pragmatist"? If so, that adds a new perspective on the litany of media accounts which have used the exact same language to describe him.