Barack Obama's Iraq War Position
The New York Times| February 26, 2007
This New York Times articles evaluates the effectiveness of Barack Obama's position on the Iraq War. As one of the few presidential candidates who voted "no" not to authorize the war, he stands atop of his political rivals. However, the article asserts that Obama did not actively promote his stance of "not voting" for the war until he formed his presidential exploratory committee.
Now the politics of the war seem to be working in his favor among Democratic primary voters.
As Mr. Obama has introduced himself in the opening weeks of his candidacy, few subjects have garnered more applause than his criticism of the war. He does not refer to the conflict as Mr. Bush's war, which antiwar candidates in the Democratic Party did in the 2004 election, but rather is seeking to expand the circle of responsibility to those who supported the invasion.
"We continue to be in a war that should never have been authorized,” Mr. Obama told an audience in Iowa last week, making a not-so-subtle reference to Mrs. Clinton and other Democratic rivals. Two days later, at a Texas rally, he said, “I am proud of the fact that way back in 2002, I said that this war was a mistake."
Nolden Gentry, a lawyer in Des Moines who has been in audiences to see Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama in the past month, said Mr. Obama's position on Iraq was one of many factors setting his candidacy apart in the eyes of Democrats. "He's more pure on the war," Mr. Gentry said, walking from a town meeting where he and 2,200 others had seen Mr. Obama.
Read the full article here.
To learn more about these presidential candidates, visit these links:
Barack Obama
Hillary Clinton
Candidates Positions on the War in Iraq
