Say Anything Blog

Stupid in North Dakota:

FARGO, North Dakota (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama waded into controversy on Thursday over his plans to withdraw U.S. combat troops from Iraq, first saying he might “refine” his views but later declaring his stance had remained unchanged for more than a year.

Obama was forced to call reporters back for a second news conference in Fargo, North Dakota, after he initially left open the possibility of revising his 16-month timetable for pulling U.S. combat forces from Iraq.

“Let me be as clear as I can be. I intend to end this war. My first day in office I will bring the joint chiefs of staff in and I will give them a new mission and that is to end this war,” Obama told reporters in his second news conference.

But he added: “I would be a poor commander in chief if I didn’t take facts on the ground into account.”

Obama’s in a tough, tough spot with Iraq.  On one hand he has a long history of beating up political opponents like Hillary Clinton over their support, past or present, of the war in Iraq.  From day one he’s been an “end the war now” candidate, and distancing himself means distancing himself from all the leftist fanatics he’s attracted to his campaign with all that empty-but-nice-sounding stuff about “hope” and “audacity” and “change.”

On the other hand, even liberal rags like The New Yorker are noting that the situation in Iraq is trending more and more toward success and that Obama needs to change his outdated stance on the war.

If Obama continues to placate the far-left liberals - and he can hardly afford not to with big time movers-and-shakers like Markos Moulitsas already threatening to withhold money because of his previous policy flip-flops - he’ll look like an obstinate child with his fingers in his ears going “nah nah nah nah” lest he have to admit that his political opponents were right and he was wrong on Iraq.

Obama is an attractive candidate and a fantastic public speaker, but being good-looking and having a knack for delivering inspirational (if rather empty of meaning) speeches doesn’t cover for you being woefully, publicly wrong about one of the biggest issues of this campaign.