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Candidate Obama was anti-war, what happened?
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AP Photo/Charles Dharapak
Obama’s oratorical skills and articulation of his message in his stump speeches, media events, and the debates made him stand out amongst the crowded assortment of Democrats in the primaries. The words “hope” and “change” were perhaps more fundamental to his success than any policy stance or any position on an issue. The details may have deviated slightly from candidate to candidate, but most of the Democratic presidential aspirants held essentially the same policy positions that make up the Democratic platform. Obama was no exception. He lectured about the need to reform health care, education, energy policy, and the need to address climate change.
The distinguishing issue that made Obama stand out from his peers was his record of opposition to the war in Iraq. During the primaries, most Democrats were criticizing the Iraq war and vowing to end it. The candidates like Hillary Clinton and John Edwards, who proved to be truly viable, however, initially voted for the Iraq war resolution in October 2002. Obama publicly criticized the war and did not vote for it. Actually voting for the resolution was a decision Obama never had to make because he was not yet a senator.
The Iraq war rhetoric that Obama used to win the primaries eventually died down in the general election. This happened for two reasons. First, the surge of troops into Iraq that Obama opposed began to show positive results. As the violence was calmed down, the war became less dramatic and Iraq fell into the out of sight out of mind category of the American public’s consciousness. The second reason Obama stopped emphasizing the war was because, like everything else, Iraq was overshadowed by the economic crisis.
I know health care and the economy are the topics on Americans’ minds these days, but I think it prudent to point out a few oversights. Oversights like the fact that the war in Iraq is still violent and still dragging on, and the war in Afghanistan is now being escalated by Barack Obama. Why nobody seems to mind these to facts is curious to me. Where are the legions of anti-war devotees that put Obama in the White house?
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