Seattle Times endorses Obama citing his opposition to the Iraq war

[usregimechange]

After seven years of George Bush's failed presidency, after five years of unnecessary war in Iraq, America is ready to write a new narrative. All candidates favor the now-bromidic slogan: change. Only one candidate truly embraces the yearnings this word represents.

The Seattle Times endorses Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for president. He has the grasp, temperament and skills to right our standing in the world. He has broad insight and specific ideas to assuage our own hardworking citizens' fears of an economy turning sour...

Judgment is more important. Bush's decision to invade Iraq was the most-wrongheaded decision of our time. Voters this time have reason to focus on other qualities, such as the courage to tell people things they might not want to hear. Obama, for example, took his pitch for higher fuel-efficiency standards to the most-challenging audience, Detroit.

And in October 2002, when our country was horribly bruised by Sept. 11, he came out against the war in Iraq: "I don't oppose all wars. ... What I am opposed to is a dumb war. ... What I am opposed to is a rash war."

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2004145661_obamaed27.html

[Blue_State_Elitist]

1. I didn't support the war.

Can I be president?

[usregimechange]

2. That is a good start.

[jasmine621]

55. I was opposed to the war and not a Senator too. Will they endorse me? nt

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

7. Then why are you supporting for Hillary?

It does not compute.

[Blue_State_Elitist]

9. Because I don't do pep rallies, trends, and naive hope.

Hillary wants to end the war just like everyone else does.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

14. Then why'd she vote for it?

[Tarheel_Dem]

15. she was for it....before she was against it

:rofl:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

17. I'm guessing the same about her supporters.

[Tarheel_Dem]

18. exactly.....n/t

[polpilot]

56. So she could try to end it. Start a war then work to end it.

???????????

[arewenotdemo]

23. "We've been in Korea for 50 years" Hillary?

[Cha]

26. No she doesn't ..she feeds

you lies 'cause she knows that's what the majority want to hear. Her record doesn't stand up for anything except feeding the military complex machine. hilary has no courage and no leadership.

[Carolina]

57. yeah after popular opinion told her that's what

Dems wanted. She was silent up until she decided to run for POTUS and when pressed said the war had been managed wrongly, not that it was wrong from the start. Or then the spin changed to if I'd known then, what I know now or the American people understand my position, or I was deceived or IWR was not a vote for war (like hell it wasn't)... spin, spin, sin (typo intended).

On the war, she's the emperor with no clothes and she's full of shit!

[arewenotdemo]

20. Maybe, maybe not.

But you can vote for the Democratic candidate who didn't.

Is the Iraq war/occupation that important to you?

[Blue_State_Elitist]

33. Absolutely

but obviously not as important as it is to you or Obama. You guys just care more and count more than idiots like me.

[arewenotdemo]

50. To be honest, it is THE ISSUE to me.

And when Barack Obama says that he "wants to change the mindset that got us into the war", I totally believe him.

Hillary labels his willingness to have a dialogue with Chavez and Castro as "naive". She will never have the courage or brilliance to challenge, must less change, American foreign policy. She likes "coercive diplomacy". No change there. We all know what that means...bombs and more bombs.

[Cha]

24. How red herring ..to explain your

candidate who has no courage.

[gateley]

3. K&R nt.

[MadBadger]

4. I've given up on newspaper endorsements

Cuz they helped in Cali so much. :sarcasm:

[usregimechange]

6. Hey we got a good lot of delegates in cally, took Oakland, San Fran, and the state capital

every little bit helps...

[Cha]

30. We took those California Spots!!

That makes me HAPPY!

[BlackVelvet04]

5. What I find highly amusing

is Obama is running on being the candidate of the future but the only real thing he can point to is in the PAST he was against the war. Presently he FUNDS the war.

[angie_love]

8. And Your candidate has blood on her hands.

Yeah he funded it so solders wouldn't be without the supplies they needed. Whos the one who supported the war that killed thousands of soldiers lives?

[BlackVelvet04]

27. There's money to bring the

solders home. Why fund it? He has NO idea how he would have voted had he been on the hot seat in the Senate and actually had to vote. Probably PRESENT.

[Tarheel_Dem]

31. you can continue to "triangulate" and "speculate" about what Obama

"would have done". The only concrete thing that we do know is that Hill voted for it. You can't change the past, or the meaning of what "is" is.

[BlackVelvet04]

34. I'm not trying to change things....

I leave it to you obama supporters to do that. For a candidate all about the future he sure doesn't have much to say about anything but the past.

[Tarheel_Dem]

40. and Hill's "past" voting record doesn't portend what she might do

in the future? I think he's right on topic, and apparently the American people think so too, which is why he raised a whopping $32 mil in a month, and $2.2 mil in 24 hrs? I'm sure would love for him to shut up about the "past".

[BlackVelvet04]

43. the american children might....

but what do they know?

[Tarheel_Dem]

48. funny...that's what i've said about Hill supporters (eom)

[Carolina]

58. Touche!

Supporting the troops once they're in harm's way is not the same as

Voting the put them in harm's way needlessly in the first place!

[Tarheel_Dem]

11. doesn't change the fact that he didn't vote for the IWR, and the

American people know that. And what I find more amusing is that on the eve of every contest, she finds a reason to "choke up" when the cameras are rolling. Just Sickening....

[BlackVelvet04]

28. waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah...........

of course he didn't vote for it dipshit he wasn't in the Senate. You can't take credit for a vote you couldn't make.

[Tarheel_Dem]

35. instead of sitting here arguing for your amoral candidate, shouldn't

you be going door to door with a collection can? You keyboard commandoes crack me up. :rofl:

[BlackVelvet04]

41. Actually I've been selling photos of Obama to raise money....

I only get a penny a piece, but what the hell.

[Tarheel_Dem]

47. wow...you must live in a crap neighborhood...

:rofl: Obama's website can't keep up with the demand, and the bonus is that everything's Made In the USA. You poor Hillary folk....

[Cha]

36. If they knew the real hilary they wouldn't

fall for it. Somebody choking up with the clintons' record shouldn't stir anyone to vote for her.

[usregimechange]

16. That is false, he has cited his work on ethics reform, support of SCHIP, women's health care in IL

increasing Pell Grants, improvements to the Higher Education Act, etc... and I could find about 50 more in an hour. If you want to not support him fine, but I suggest doing so in a way that wouldn't require abandoning the truth.

[BlackVelvet04]

29. Maybe he should have reformed his ethics....

instead of doing a land deal with a thug.

[usregimechange]

53. Maybe you could stop acting like Karl Rove and tell the truth?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

22. Incorrect.

Obama presently votes against funding with the absence of a time line and will continue to do so until he's voted Commander-in-Chief, and will bring them home.

Clinton, on the other hand, says that once elected she'll think about it for 60 days and, lets face it, probably won't do shit to bring them home. Just like Pelosi.

[BlackVelvet04]

32. spin spin.......

now what did Senator Clinton really say about those 60 days? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

37. She said she'd use the time to develop a plan.

So much for being ready on the first day.

[BlackVelvet04]

38. You can't make a definitive plan for something that far away

when it's a war, the generals in the field have to make an assessment for the conditions at the time. But you know that. I'm just so sure Obama would start bringing troops home on day one.....NOT.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

42. I think Obama would bring the troops home.

If Clinton gave a shit she wouldn't have sent them off to die in the first place.

[BlackVelvet04]

46. His greatest claim to fame

is a vote he couldn't make.....and something he admitted he didn't really know what he would have done if he actually had made the vote. Sad.

[JVS]

10. w00t

[Flabbergasted]

12. My folks live in Bellingham. My dad said he doesn't vote in the primaries.

I wonder if they'll vote in this one though. I suspect if he does, he'll vote Clinton. Not sure about mom.

[Qutzupalotl]

13. He stuck his neck out to oppose the war when it wasn't popular to do so,

despite how some have twisted his statements. *coughBillClintoncough*

[Adelante]

19. Media consolidation

I'm glad they got this in

Obama speaks eloquently about media issues. His positions encourage a public worried about a consolidated media. He supports network neutrality and laments media consolidation. He co-sponsored a bill to stop recent changes to the cross-ownership rule adopted by the Federal Communications Commission. Obama says he would appoint FCC commissioners who will work in the public's interest and against media concentration.

[Cha]

21. Zing go the strings of

my heart! Thank you, Seattle Times!

"Judgment is more important. Bush's decision to invade Iraq was the most-wrongheaded decision of our time. Voters this time have reason to focus on other qualities, such as the courage to tell people things they might not want to hear. Obama, for example, took his pitch for higher fuel-efficiency standards to the most-challenging audience, Detroit.

Obama has the courage of conviction.

[Adelante]

25. Did you notice in the Los Angeles debate, zidzi?

When they were talking about violence on television and children, he made a point of turning to the audience and saying the industry had to take responsibility and self-correct, something like that. I was clapping. He does it in the belly of the beast.

[Cha]

39. NO... thanks! I don't watch the

debates..they drive me nuts(self-preservation)..so thanks for valuble info, WesDem!

Obama is so amazingly courageous, if he can just have time to reach more people.

[Tarheel_Dem]

44. so true...Thom Hartmann said as much today. Obama just has to

stay out there, connecting with the people, because when he shows up in person he usually erases the gap.

[Cha]

52. Then thank you, Thom Hartman, and

thanks to you, Tarheel, for telling us that!

[cgrindley]

45. Seattle belongs to Obama

Epicenter of Gen X.

[Cha]

51. They know..and I'm so glad

they do!!

[realFedUp]

49. "muted voice on Iraq in Senate"

www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/chi-obama_senate_recordjun12,1,4414390.story

snip

Throughout his time in the Senate, Obama has followed a cautious path, avoiding any severe political bruises. Even before the national mood was turning on Iraq, Obama was a critic of the war, but for most of his time in the Senate he was not a strong voice in opposition. Similarly, the former civil rights attorney and University of Chicago law lecturer did not take to the bully pulpit to speak out publicly on judicial appointments. His strategy called for him to turn away from the cameras when he might otherwise have been a resonant voice.

snip

Muted voice on Iraq

Obama the candidate for U.S. Senate spoke out forcefully against the Iraq war. For most of his tenure in Washington, though, Obama the U.S. senator has not been a moving force on Iraq.

He left it to others to lead public opinion. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) and Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) emerged as the strongest voices against the war. Those critics all spoke out before Obama gave his first major policy speech on the war -- 11 months after he took office.

continued

[Tarheel_Dem]

54. And??? Ms. Clinton can't lead the charge? Oh, I forgot she voted

for the bloody war. Moving On...........

[usregimechange]

59. Hillary will be in Seattle tomorrow, Obama the next day