OBAMA ARGUES WITH HIMSELF

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WASHINGTON TIMES - Barack Obama, the senatorial candidate of 2004, might
have a bone to pick with Barack Obama, the presidential candidate of
2008. Videotapes of debates and speeches that were obtained by The
Washington Times show that Mr. Obama took positions during his Senate
campaign on nearly a half-dozen issues ranging from the Cuba embargo to
health care for illegal aliens that conflict with statements that he has
made during his run for the White House.

For example, in MSNBC's Oct. 30 presidential debate, Mr. Obama
hesitantly raised his hand and joined with most of his Democratic rivals
to declare he opposed decriminalizing marijuana.

But as a U.S. Senate candidate, Mr. Obama told Illinois college students
in January 2004 he supported eliminating criminal penalties for
marijuana use or possession, a debate video shows. "I think we need to
rethink and decriminalize our marijuana laws," Mr. Obama said during a
debate at Northwestern University. "But I'm not somebody who believes in
legalization of marijuana

When confronted with the statements on the video, Obama's campaign
offered two explanations to The Times in less than 24 hours. At first,
Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor said the candidate had "always" supported
decriminalizing marijuana, suggesting that his 2004 statement was
correct. Then after The Times posted copies of the video on its Web
site, his campaign reversed course and declared he does not support
eliminating criminal penalties for marijuana possession and use.
The spokesman blamed confusion over the meaning of decriminalization for
the conflicting answers.

Mr. Obama's differing answers on marijuana are among five conflicts
between positions he took while running for Senate in 2004 and those he
now articulates while running for president, a review of debate tapes
shows. Experts said the likely reason for the changes was that Mr. Obama
ran as a liberal during his Senate run but has become more centrist as
he pursues the broad coalition required to win the White House. . .

The position changes include:

- In a 2003 forum on health care, Mr. Obama said he supported the
children of illegal aliens' receiving the same benefits as citizens,
"whether it's medical, whether it's in-state tuition." Asked
specifically whether he included "undocumented" people, Mr. Obama
replied, "Absolutely." But in a CNN debate Jan. 21, when Mr. Obama was
asked whether his health care proposal covers illegal aliens, he said
"no" and that he first wants to cover the U.S. citizens and legal
residents without health care.

- In 2004, Mr. Obama told an audience at Southern Illinois University,
"I think it's time for us to end the embargo with Cuba. . .  It's time
for us to acknowledge that that particular policy has failed." However,
he stopped short of calling for an end to the embargo in a Miami Herald
op-ed in August. He said he would rely on diplomacy, with a message that
if a post-Fidel Castro government made democratic changes, the U.S. "is
prepared to take steps to normalize relations and ease the embargo."

- In an October 2003 NAACP debate, Mr. Obama said he would "vote to
abolish" mandatory minimum sentences. "The mandatory minimums take too
much discretion away from judges," he said. Mr. Obama now says on his
web site that he would "immediately review sentences to see where we can
be smarter on crime and reduce the ineffective warehousing of nonviolent
drug offenders."

- Mr. Obama told an AFL-CIO group in June 2003: "I happen to be a
proponent of a single-payer, universal health care plan." But in a
recent debate he said he has never endorsed such a plan. "Senator Obama
has always said that single-payer universal care is a good idea because
it would increase efficiency in the system, but the problem is that it's
not achievable," Mr. Vietor said.

Mr. Obama is hardly alone in facing charges of flip-flops. Mrs. Clinton
has faced the "flip-flop" charge on the North America Free Trade
Agreement. In 1996, she pushed husband President Clinton's trade
agreement but now says that it has hurt American workers.

Mr. Romney also has faced criticism for supporting abortion and same-sex
"marriage" when he was governor of Massachusetts, but now opposes both
as he seeks the Republican nomination for president. Mr. Romney has said
he was always pro-life but respected Massachusetts' existing laws.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/
20080201/NATION/43529865/-1/RSS_NATION_POLITICS&template=printart


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