February 3, 2007
Obama Moves Left? (Dick Morris)
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has introduced legislation calling for total withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq by March 2008. In doing so, he has moved to the left of Hillary, who has advocated withdrawal but refuses to commit to a specific deadline. The key question for the Democratic nomination is whether Obama will join Edwards on the left or Hillary on the right in approaching the war in Iraq.
The litmus test is likely to come after Congress passes a resolution disapproving of Bush’s troop surge and after Bush sends the troops in anyway. At that point liberals like Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) are likely to push for a funding cutoff on the additional troops. Hillary has said she would vote against the cutoff, and Edwards can be counted upon to advocate it. If Obama sides with Edwards he will have a real chance at the nomination, but if he sides with Hillary he probably will count himself out. According to the Fox News poll, Democrats favor a cutoff of all funding for the war by 58 to 33. Support for a cutoff of funding of the Bush troop surge is likely to be even higher. The question for Obama is: Does he join the 58s or the 33s?
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Moves left from what Mr.Morris?Your former free wheeling lifstyle or the jugdemental idealogue you have become today?You are hardly considered an appropiate nor a capable judge of a stance or character in any literate pubic arena
Comment by Linda M Shoop — February 3, 2007 @ 1:21 pm
Linda M. Shoop is hardly considered an appropriate, nor capable judge of a stance, nor character, in a poublic official.
Comment by John Salmon — February 13, 2007 @ 3:31 pm
Mr. Morris, your premise is absolutely preposterous.
First of all, determining when our troops should come home, and whether or not a firm date should be in place has nothing to do with liberal or conservative values. It has to do with judgment and decision making. Senator Hagel agrees with Senator Obama here. Would you say that he is more liberal than Senator Clinton as well?
Second, your phrasing regarding whom Obama will side with is misleading. If Obama votes with Edwards, it will not be Senator Obama who has joined Senator Edwards, but Senator Edwards who has joined Senator Obama. Senator Obama has wanted the troops home since before they left in the first place. He was one of the only Democrats to criticize the poor judgment with regard to the Iraq War before a single troop was deployed. To suggest that he's just now hopping on the leftist anti-war bandwagon is objectively false and misleading.
Third, your implication that Senator Obama used to stand to the right of Senator Clinton is completely unsupported and patently untrue.
Comment by Robby Grossman — February 28, 2007 @ 1:49 pm