Obama touts anti-war cred (Chicago Sun-Times)

[Apollo11]

Chicago Sun-Times - October 3, 2007

Obama touts anti-war cred

BY ABDON M. PALLASCH Political Reporter

Five years to the day after White House hopeful Barack Obama made his now-famous speech against the Iraq war, he sought to capitalize on his anti-war credentials Tuesday with a tour that started in Chicago and leads to 11 Iowa cities.

He is pledging to work toward a world without nukes; to send more U.S. citizens abroad in foreign service rather than soldiers' uniforms; to double foreign aid to $50 billion, and to declassify more government documents.

Obama is using his speech at a 2002 Chicago anti-war rally to hammer -- not by name -- his main rivals for the Democratic nomination for president, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), and former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.). Clinton and Edwards voted to authorize the war days after Obama's 2002 speech.

A Newsweek poll Saturday showed Obama slightly leading Clinton among likely Iowa caucus-goers, 28 percent to 24 percent, a statistical tie. Edwards had 22 percent. But Clinton, for the first time, raised more money than Obama in the third quarter.

Ironically, Obama's 2002 speech went largely unnoticed at the time. No newspaper quoted him calling the war in Iraq a "dumb war." Only two newspapers, the Defender and the Daily Herald, even noted he attended the rally.

But now the speech is a centerpiece of the campaign.

"We need to ask those who voted for the war: how can you give the president a blank check and then act surprised when he cashes it?" Obama asked.

(...)

Read the full article here:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/585263,CST-NWS-obama03.article

[MethuenProgressive]

1. And yet has voted with Clinton on every war vote he showed up for.

He is a good speaker, that's for sure.

[Apollo11]

2. I recommend reading the entire speech

It's the best speech I have read since Al Gore at Constitution Hall in January 2006.

You can read it here:
http://origin.barackobama.com/speeches/

:kick: