parsing Obama on Iraq
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1590439,00.html
How to Build a Bonfire Joe Klein
Let it be recorded that humility was the first note struck by Senator =
Barack Obama in announcing his presidential candidacy before a large =
crowd in Springfield, Ill.: “It’s humbling, but in my heart I know =
you didn’t come here just for me; you came here because you believe =
in what this country can be.” It was a note struck repeatedly during =
his first weekend of campaigning. “This is not only about me,” he =
would say, launching into a lengthy and crowd-deadening disquisition =
on how, as a former community organizer, he understood that change =
comes from the grass roots up, not from the top down. O.K., O.K., =
it’s a fine sentiment. But it’s wrong: this campaign is all about =
him. In fact, given Obama’s slim political r=E9sum=E9 and drop-dead =
charisma, his campaign is more candidate-driven than most. It’s all =
about the spectacular keynote speech he gave to the Democratic =
National Convention in 2004. It’s all about the fact that he’s–pace =
Joe Biden–a young, attractive, eloquent and intelligent Kenyan =
Kansan. (Baseball cap spotted in Iowa later that day: OBAMA ‘08– =
ARTICULATE AND CLEAN.)
I suspect that Obama’s aim is to rebuild the bonfire of Howard Dean’s =
grass-roots campaign, minus the scream. But raging infernos don’t =
just happen. First comes courage. Dean never would have had his =
bonfire if he hadn’t opposed the invasion of Iraq in clear, plain, =
inspiring English. Even then, Dean had trouble stoking the fire: the =
campaign was failing long before his fatal Iowa mating call. It had =
become a campaign cult, too enamored with itself, with too much =
blabber about the money being raised on the Web and not enough about =
issues other than Iraq.
Obama is trying to ride the war too, but he’s not doing it as well as =
Dean did. His biggest applause lines are about Iraq. “I opposed the =
war from the start,” he says, which often brings a standing ovation. =
“A war that never should have been authorized”–a reference to the =
votes of John Edwards and Hillary Clinton to authorize it–”or =
fought.” And credit is due: he was right. But that was four years =
ago, and Obama gets into some trouble when he tries to differentiate =
himself from his opponents on the war now. He says he has the “most =
specific” plan to end the war, but it is specific only at the back =
end: he would have all the combat troops out of Iraq by March 31, =
- He professes not to know where Clinton stands on how to end the =
war, and yet less than a year ago, they voted for exactly the same =
Iraq resolution, a phased withdrawal without a fixed timetable. Both =
he and Clinton voted against John Kerry’s proposal to withdraw all =
troops by July 2007, for reasons that still sound good today. “What =
is needed is a blueprint for an expeditious yet responsible exit from =
Iraq,” Obama said on the Senate floor last June. “A hard and fast, =
arbitrary deadline for withdrawal offers our commanders in the =
field … insufficient flexibility to implement that strategy.” =
Clinton remains opposed to timetables, but Obama decided to change =
his position and in January announced the March 2008 date. Aside from =
that, there isn’t much practical difference between Obama and Clinton =
on the war: both oppose the surge, both support a phased withdrawal, =
neither of them would cut off funding. And when pressed, Obama =
concedes that his March 2008 deadline can be “adjusted,” depending on =
events on the ground.
This is hardly a Dean-like stand. But then, there may not be many =
Dean-like stands to be had this year. Obama readily admits in his =
stump speech that the Democratic candidates are emphasizing the same =
issues this time. “Each of us is going to have a health plan,” he =
says, sounding slightly bored. So what does the Senator have to sell? =
At the Democratic National Committee meeting in Washington a few =
weeks ago, he said his campaign was going to be more about “hope” =
than “specifics.” Hope? For a generation, Democrats have been told to =
“keep hope alive” and to believe in “a place called Hope.” The party =
is mildewed with hoping. In fact, Obama trying to sell “hope” through =
rhetoric is like Kerry trying to sell “strength” through r=E9sum=E9. You =
have to show it, not just sell it.
To be fair, “hope” is probably Obama’s way of saying “leadership.” =
But leadership doesn’t come from the grass roots. It is about as “top =
down” as you can get. It is best demonstrated through courage. And =
despite all the rhetorical confusion, there were some early signs =
Obama might not do too badly in that department. At his very first =
Iowa town meeting, he showed the courage to tell his Democratic =
audience things it didn’t want to hear. Asked if he would cut the =
Pentagon budget, he said, “Actually, you’ll probably see an initial =
bump in military spending in an Obama Administration” in order to add =
troops and replace the equipment lost in Iraq. Then he told a =
teachers’ union member that he supported higher pay for teachers but =
also–the union’s anathema–greater accountability. The crowd was =
silent as he said these things. But there are different sorts of =
silence, and in this case, they were hanging on his every word. =95