Obama's Antiwar Stance: That Was Then, This Is Now

There's no reason to assume that Barack Obama would have voted against the war if he’d been in the Senate in 2002, James Kirchick writes for Politico. As a state senator, Obama was aligned with his liberal constituency in opposing the Iraq invasion; as a thoroughly briefed US senator with access to high-level intel, he might very well have been on the winning end of the 77-23 vote that approved the invasion.

Furthermore, Kirchik contends, "John McCain’s judgment vastly exceeds that of Barack Obama." That particularly applies in analyzing the run-up to the troop surge: "Had we listened to Obama back in January 2007, the effects of the surge would never have materialized, and we would not be in the place we are today." (More Barack Obama stories.)