Obama Makes It Official
by Pamela LeaveyBarack Obama made it official on Saturday. He’s in the race for the Democratic nomination in the ‘08 election.
Thousands of Obama supporters braved the frigid weather to join him as made his announcement on the grounds the Old State Capitol in Springfield, IL, where “Lincoln delivered his famous “House Divided” speech against slavery in 1858.”
“I recognize there is a certain presumptuousness — a certain audacity — to this announcement,” he said. “I know I haven’t spent a lot of time learning the ways of Washington. But I’ve been there long enough to know that the ways of Washington must change.”
The WaPo notes that “Obama’s sharpest difference with both Clinton and Edwards is his early opposition to the Iraq war; they voted for the 2002 resolution authorizing President Bush to invade Iraq.”
Edwards has since apologized for his vote, and Clinton has said she would not have voted that way had she known then what she knows now.
But Obama can point to remarks he made in the fall of 2002 in which he not only called the war “dumb” but also predicted the dangers of the long occupation that followed the successful invasion. In his announcement speech, he described the war as a “tragic mistake.”
“It’s time to admit that no amount of American lives can resolve the political disagreement that lies at the heart of someone else’s civil war,” he said Saturday. “That’s why I have a plan that will bring our combat troops home by March of 2008. Letting the Iraqis know that we will not be there forever is our last, best hope to pressure the Sunni and Shia to come to the table and find peace.”
Although Obama never cast a vote for the initial Iraq War resolution, he did fail to support the Kerry Feingold resolution last June calling for a deadline on Iraq. He might be outspoken, but when he had the opportunity to back Kerry – Feingold, he balked when 13 other Senators did not.
A true commitment to ending the war in Iraq, in my opinion from any of the current candidates, will include support for John Kerry’s Set A Deadline legislation. Anything less than that is just talk. Kerry laid down his presidential aspirations to bring an end to this ill-gotten war. I’m waiting to hear who in the Democratic pool of candidates will step up and suport his legislation. Then we’ll talk.
Filed under: Democrats, Election '08, In The News, Iraq, John Kerry, Politics, Senate | Get Permalink or trackback |
I don’t mean to be sarcastic, but how many times is he going to tell us he is running for President. You can only get so much mileage out of one announcement.
He actually only said it once: yesterday.
A few weeks ago, he said he would announce officially on Feb 10, and he is holding to his word.
It is too early for me to endorse somebody, but right now, Obama has passed the likeability test for me, something other candidates do not even come close to passing. I imagine he will flesh out his concrete proposals, and then we will see if he walks the walk as well as he talks the talk.
Mass
Personally I am content to let them all flesh things out for a few months. I don’t even want to think about backing anyone yet. With JK out I am taking the time to catch up on a lot of stuff that would have been left on the back burner longer.
There is no draft. Opposition to the war is just that, opposition to the war. Unless setadeadline.com gains momentum, it would be nothing more than another call for actions again. Even with all the alternative plans on the table, they are all only words. Not to be rude, but honestly with all do respect, it is not a secret that Secretary of State Rice has not been effective at the very least. Benchmarks are meaningless if Iraqis do not take the Bush administration seriously. There is too much uncertain, insecure, and fear in the process; and it shows. What “next generation politics” means? Didn’t Bush bring a whole whack of new politics into D.C.? Kerry may not have the authority to summit the Middle East region, but he can consult all respectful republican counterparts like Kissinger, Baker, and …., and read into their execution style of diplomacy. Iraq is everything but partisan, but politic makes it partisan to protect and support the president. Blue states are high on marketing, and red states are more laid-back. And if Kerry’s plan can make it to the red states, then his approach must have somekind of neutral merit to it. How setadeadline.com presents a solid case of its conviction remains to be seen. Iran is not going anywhere. It is the Bush administration which is setting up a preventable showdown by not engaging. Is Congress responsible for letting it happens? Maybe not, it is all Kerry’s fault.