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What's Obama's stand on the issues?

post #1 of 20
3/5/07 at 8:01pm
Thread Starter 
I'm just curious because I can't rightly say that I've ever heard him expound in any great detail on any of the issues of concern to the American voter. He say's that he was against the war from the beginning and wouldn't have voted for it, but he has hindsight and the fact that he wasn't in Congess on his side so he can say that. Other than that, I'm drawing blanks.

All I'm asking is for any of you who support his bid for the presidency to weigh-in and tell me what it is that separates him from the other Democratic candidates - not his anti-war stance, not how "fresh" he is to politics, not that he'd be the first black U.S. president. No, I want to know his stance on the economy, world trade, education, the environment, immigration, etc. After all, as a citizen I don't want my vote to make me feel good about myself because I somehow righted some past wrong; I want it to make me feel as if I made a decision that was well-considered and best for the country.
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post #2 of 20
3/5/07 at 8:15pm
Google brought up this, dunno if it helps you:
http://www.ontheissues.org/Senate/Barack_Obama.htm
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post #3 of 20
3/5/07 at 8:20pm
http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsid...ack_obama.html

A blog post with lots of links about Obama's short but productive legislative history. It made me like him, but then I appreciate guys who take care of the important stuff that people nonetheless don't seem to give a shit about.
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post #4 of 20
3/5/07 at 9:20pm
War abroad and socialism at home.

http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=10181
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post #5 of 20
3/5/07 at 9:49pm
Taxation with Representation does not equal Socialism. This is not a complicated concept.

The American People voted for the War in 2004. ][ Please refrain from being disingenuous on what is a deadly serious matter.

More on point: Obama, at this point, looks like the only person capable of capturing the Democratic nomination who isn't Hillary Clinton. This is a very salient issue.
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post #6 of 20
3/5/07 at 9:54pm
And in any case, Obama has called for withdrawal and introduced legislation to that effect.
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post #7 of 20
3/11/07 at 5:21pm
Quote:
He say's that he was against the war from the beginning and wouldn't have voted for it, but he has hindsight and the fact that he wasn't in Congess on his side so he can say that.
Also, he's on record as saying he was against the war in 2002. It's where his line "I'm not against all wars, I'm against dumb wars" comes from.

If you're truly interested in his views on issues, the absolute best source is his book. Looking at his voting record and bills sponsored is another good source, though you seldom actually see WHY an issue was voted for (or against).

Generally speaking, at this time of the campaign, no one is giving lengthy dissertations about issues. And as voters turn more and more to character trumping issues, candidates will spend less and less time on issues.
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post #8 of 20
3/11/07 at 8:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Angelo Mike
War abroad and socialism at home.

http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=10181
Whereas every fool knows you need to keep your SOCIALISM abroad and your WAR at home.
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post #9 of 20
3/12/07 at 11:41am
I wish Obama had voted against reauthorizing the Pariot Act. That whole thing needs to be reformed.
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post #10 of 20
3/14/07 at 2:21pm
Apparently, he's for paying parking tickets. 17 years late.
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post #11 of 20
3/14/07 at 2:40pm
That news just got to these forums?
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post #12 of 20
3/14/07 at 2:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Belethedheliel
In that case, he truly is the everyday American.
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post #13 of 20
3/14/07 at 3:08pm
I'm less interested in his stance on specific issues, because issues change. I'm more interested in his ordering political philsophy.
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post #14 of 20
3/15/07 at 6:02am
I like it when you ask about his policies, and they tell you to read his book like you're a lazy slob for having to ask.
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post #15 of 20
3/15/07 at 8:28am
Junior, ask where he stands on a specific issue and I will gladly do the research for you, but if you want to know all of his views and positions... yeah... I don't have that kind of time.
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post #16 of 20
3/16/07 at 9:51am
Sorry Myk, didn't mean you. I frequent political blogs and a lot of his own activists won't be bothered to expound on his platform (or perhaps, like me, they just don't know!). I mean I made for one half-assed get-out-the-vote caller last year, but darn it, at least I had a cheat sheet!
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post #17 of 20
3/16/07 at 2:38pm
These days, any politician's stance (or lack thereof) on any issue can be found with 3 minutes and an internet connection. Or you could watch the debates once they start having them. So yeah, asking someone else to look this stuff up for you is just lazy.

Not that I don't ask other people to do my work for me sometimes, but I admit it's because I'm lazy.
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post #18 of 20
3/17/07 at 7:57pm
Not so much a stance on any particular issue, but it is Obama related.

Quote:
Obama remark draws fire from Jews
'Nobody is suffering more than the Palestinian people,' he said in Iowa.

By THOMAS BEAUMONT
REGISTER STAFF WRITER

March 15, 2007

Democrat Barack Obama's expression of sympathy for the Palestinian people while campaigning in Iowa this week prompted questions from some Jewish Democrats in Iowa, a small but active group in the leadoff presidential caucuses.

The comments are not expected to cost the Illinois senator politically in his quest for the 2008 nomination, but they illustrate the importance of the Jewish vote for Democrats, national political observers said.

The Illinois senator said Sunday that he supports relaxing restrictions on aid to the Palestinians, provided the Palestinian government renounces terrorism.

Obama's comments, including "nobody is suffering more than the Palestinian people" as a result of the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, ran Monday in a Des Moines Register article, which was widely read on the Internet.

"If we could get some movement among Palestinian leadership, what I'd like to see is a loosening up of some of the restrictions on providing aid directly to the Palestinian people," Obama told a small group of Muscatine Democrats while campaigning in eastern Iowa.

Des Moines Democrat Paulee Lipsman said she was concerned by the idea of relaxing restrictions while the Palestinian government was controlled by a group considered terrorists by the U.S. government.

"I think there's a great deal of empathy for the Palestinian people, but they need to change their government," said Lipsman, who is Jewish and a former Democratic National Committee member. "And the only way the U.S. and other countries have to make that clear is to withhold funding."

Last year, Palestinian voters put the political party Hamas in control of the Palestinian Authority. The group advocates the destruction of Israel and is classified by the United States as a terrorist organization. The United States and its allies imposed sanctions after Hamas took power.

Obama's comments prompted Des Moines Democrat David Adelman, who is Jewish and a former member of the state Democratic central committee, to write the Obama campaign that he was "greatly concerned" about the comments.

"I just kind of wanted to write the letter and seek clarification about the comments that he made," Adelman said Wednesday. Later Wednesday, Obama aides spoke with Adelman, who said he was "satisfied with their response."

The issue came up during a short question-and-answer session with Obama and about 40 Democratic activists who met privately for 30 minutes.

Muscatine Democrat Sue Dravis asked Obama, "What would you do that will be different that will address the humanitarian and human rights crisis for the Palestinians now?"

Obama affirmed U.S. support for Israel, but said the Israeli government would have to make difficult concessions for the peace process to restart. Obama also said the Palestinian government must renounce terrorism before he would consider loosening restrictions on aid.

"Senator Obama believes that the security of Israel should be America's starting point in the Middle East, and that the Hamas-led government must renounce terrorism for there to be any progress," Obama's Iowa campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor said Wednesday. "And regardless of nationality, Senator Obama's heart goes out to all who are innocently suffering as a result of Hamas' refusal to join as a partner in the peace process."

Jewish voters are a relatively small slice of the Iowa Democratic base. However, nationally they make up a large bloc of active voters and financial contributors, said Matt Dorf, a consultant to the Democratic National Committee on Jewish issues.

Nothing about Obama's position is out of line with most mainstream Jewish Democrats, but it won't stop Obama's rivals from trying to use his words against him, Dorf said.

"People are going to take what they want out of that story for their own political purposes, and that's not unexpected in a Democratic primary where the Jewish vote is highly contested," he said.

It could cost Obama among the small number of voters who vote purely on the issue of Israel and maybe turn some donors away, Dorf said. "But the net effect on him, I would suspect, will be very, very little."

The fact that Obama was answering a question posed by someone sympathetic to the Palestinians likely influenced him to stress that part of his position, said Ken Stein, a professor at Emory University.

By contrast, Obama made no mention of loosening restrictions on Palestinian aid two weeks ago when he gave a speech to the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee policy forum in Chicago.

"The next time Obama says something on the Mideast, people are going to listen a lot closer, and the next time he says something about it, he's going to be a lot more aware of that," said Stein, who writes about the politics of Mideast policy. "Part of it is the learning curve for the candidate."

Reporter Thomas Beaumont can be reached at (515) 286-2532 or tbeaumont@dmreg.com
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post #19 of 20
3/20/07 at 5:27am
Meanwhile, windows in uptown New York City today were rattled by what witnesses are calling a loud "SCHWING"-like sound as Fox News simultaneously all achieved throbbing erections -- including female employees, sources say.
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post #20 of 20
3/20/07 at 4:04pm
Can America please stop acting as if AIPAC is the authority on the Palestinian experience? Every time someone shows public sympathy to the Palestinians, the Jewish lobby gets to respond through all the major media outlets. It's ridiculous, not to mention dangerous for the peace process.
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