Richard WarnickIs Barack Obama Running for Bush’s Third Term?
Wazzup? Last month, Barack Obama suddenly switched his position on illegal warrantless surveillance– now he’s for it. In an interview with Fortune, he embraced NAFTA.
The Wall Street Journal says:
We’re beginning to understand why Barack Obama keeps protesting so vigorously against the prospect of “George Bush’s third term.” Maybe he’s worried that someone will notice that he’s the candidate who’s running for it.
TNR’s James Kirchick piles on:
From NAFTA, to the Iraq War to the FISA bill, Obama is now taking positions markedly at odds with what he said were his positions during the Democratic primary.
…Let’s applaud Barack Obama for ignoring the nonsense wing of his party.
Wait a minute– Iraq?? The New York Times seems to confirm that Obama is re-thinking his plans for withdrawing troops from Iraq:
As he arrived for a campaign stop in North Dakota, Mr. Obama told reporters on Thursday that he intended to conduct “a thorough assessment” of his Iraq policy during a forthcoming trip to the country. He stressed that he has long called for a careful and responsible withdrawal of American forces, but he declined to offer a fresh endorsement of his plan to remove one to two combat brigades a month.
The Republicans are getting out their old John Kerry flip-flops:
“There appears to be no issue that Barack Obama is not willing to reverse himself on for the sake of political expedience,” said Alex Conant, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee. “Obama’s Iraq problem undermines the central premise of his candidacy and shows him to be a typical politician.”
Translation: “Obama’s just as bad as our candidate.”
Wazzup?
UPDATE: Following an avalanche of right-wing and media speculation, Obama held a second press conference to say he hasn’t flip-flopped on Iraq yet. His plan is still to withdraw combat troops within 16 months. However, to put that in perspective, 68 percent of Americans want an Iraq withdrawal within 12 months from now (i.e. at least 10 months faster than Obama’s plan to withdraw by May 2010).
July 3rd, 2008 at 5:21 pm
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/7/3/17478/68977/980/546168
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/7/3/182417/7373/960/546180
These are the top two recommended diaries on DailyKos right now; please read for a little perspective . . .
July 3rd, 2008 at 5:38 pm
Actually, Barrack Obama is running for Jimmy Carter’s second term.
July 3rd, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Ken:
I’ll take an entire second term of Jimmy Carter over another five minutes of Bush.
PS While you are BBQing this weekend, don’t forget to give thought to the 4,000+ American soldiers whose deaths you support, and those additional deaths of American soldiers you encourage, through yor past and future apologetic rhetoric for BushCo!!
Gee, maybe you should even pray and ponder about it!
July 5th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Richard,
Regarding your update, specifically the claim that “68 percent of Americans want an Iraq withdrawal within 12 months from now” and that that is somehow contradictory to Obama’s plan of bringing them home in the first sixteen months of his administration, I’m not finding anything to back that up in the polling you linked to.
Could you please elaborate?
Thanks.
July 5th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Senator Obama is positioning himself as a centrist. He has long said that we should be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless going in. Obama is savvier than Carter and Bush.
July 5th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
I don’t know that saying we should be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless going in while emphasizing that we will get out under an Obama administration is akin to “positioning himself as a centrist,” especially when it’s what he’s been saying all along. I’d say he’s positioning himself more a realist than anything else which, according to the polls at Richard’s link, seems to be right in line with how the majority of Americans are thinking these days.
July 5th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Don–
For the poll I was referring to, go to the link and scroll down to “Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg Poll. June 19-23, 2008.”
There you will see the question: “In your opinion, should the United States withdraw troops from Iraq right away, or should the U.S. begin bringing troops home within the next year, or should troops stay in Iraq for as long as it takes to win the war?”
Results:
Withdraw Right Away = 25%
Withdraw Within Year = 43%
Stay as Long As It Takes = 26%
Unsure = 7%
Add the first two numbers, and you can see that 68 percent want out of Iraq in a year or less.
Sometimes, I get in a hurry and forget to explain. I apologize!
July 5th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
“. . . should the U.S. begin bringing troops home within the next year,” (emphasis added)
You’ve misinterpreted the poll Richard. The only thing this poll tells us is that 68 percent want to start removing troops from Iraq within the next year. Obama’s position is entirely consistent with the polling.
Nevertheless, I don’t doubt that there are many Americans, including myself, who do want the troops out of Iraq “immediately” or “within the next year”. But I reckon that if you told them that the safest way to redeploy out of Iraq was to do it no faster than one to two brigades a month that most of them would support that policy in order to not further endanger the troops.
July 5th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
Don says: “The only thing this poll tells us is that 68 percent want to start removing troops from Iraq within the next year.”
Um, no. In that case the poll would be moot and meaningless, because the “surge” brigades are already being redeployed. In fact, the last one is leaving right now.
Also, how long did it take to invade Iraq in 2003? A little over five weeks. How long would it take to get out? One to two “brigades” a month is the answer given by politicians with no military expertise who want to sound “moderate.” Are they talking about our 15 combat brigades? What about support units? The Air Force? The civilian contractors?
The Center for American Progress wrote a Strategic Reset plan a year ago. It calls for a phased redeployment from Iraq in one year, as the key part of an overall strategy recommended by national security experts. Too bad that plan was ignored, the Iraq occupation could be over already!
What is the danger to the troops? The sooner they are out of Iraq, the better for all concerned. Every additional day brings more casualties and costs more than $720 million.
July 6th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Whatever the public wants, we ‘aint leaving Iraq unless we are driven out militarily.