Author Archives for psychodrew
Another Obama “Mistake”
In December, Politico reported that Barack Obama had taken “unabashedly liberal positions” on a questionnaire he filled out while running for the Illinois State Senate in 1996. The premise of the article was that his “far left” positions–opposition to restrictions to abortion on demand and support for single-payer health insurance and strict gun control legislation–could damage him in the general election:
Regardless, the blunt statements of his earlier views, preserved on a questionnaire he filled out for an Illinois voter group that later endorsed him, would allow a Republican opponent to paint him as being way to the left of the nation’s electorate on questions that have historically been potent wedge issues.
It took a week for the Obama campaign to come up with its official response–Barack Obama did not fill out the questionnaire:
A week after Politico provided the questionnaire to the Obama campaign for comment, an aide called Monday night to say that Obama had said he did not fill out the form, and provided a contact for his campaign manager at the time, who said she filled it out.
The campaign went on to explain that Senator Obama had been very consistent in his views.
Why does a four month old story matter now? Because the campaign’s explanation in December 2007 may not be entirely accurate. Politico received an amended copy of the questionnaire with notes on the front page written in Barack Obama’s handwriting. The campaign’s response is rather difficult to believe:
