As Candidate, Obama Carves Antiwar Stance

A generally favorable article that I suspect will be on the front page of tomorrow's NYT.  This is very true:

These days Mr. Obama dismisses the suggestion that it was easier for him to speak against the war because he was not serving in the Senate and therefore not obligated to vote on the matter. He recalled worrying, at the time, that he might lose his Senate primary election because of his decision to oppose the Iraq invasion.

“It certainly didn’t look like a cost-free decision when Saddam Hussein’s statue was being pulled down in Baghdad,” Mr. Obama said in an interview. “I was in a hotel room in the middle of my Senate campaign, watching that happen, and President Bush’s job approval rating was at 60 percent. Those who voted for the authorization felt pretty good.”

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As Candidate, Obama Carves Antiwar Stance

By JEFF ZELENY

Published: February 26, 2007

www.nytimes.com/2007/02/26/us/politics/26obama.html

WASHINGTON, Feb. 25 — Senator Barack Obama is running for president as one of the few candidates who opposed the Iraq war from the beginning, a simple position unburdened by expressions of regret or decisions over whether to apologize for initially supporting the invasion.