Posted on 09/17/2006 5:41:55 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
INDIANOLA, Iowa - Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., warned Democratic activists Sunday that the party must take a tougher stance on national security if it wants to succeed in the November elections.
"What Democrats have to do is to close the deal," said Obama, the keynote speaker at Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin (news, bio, voting record)'s 29th annual steak fry. "We have got to show we have a serious agenda for change."
Obama's appearance in Iowa, where precinct caucuses launch the presidential season, has raised a number of eyebrows about his intentions for a presidential run in 2008. Though only a first-term senator, Obama has burst onto the national scene.
But he wouldn't say Sunday whether he was considering a run at the White House.
"My only attentions right now are focused on '06," said Obama. "Whoever is looking toward 2008 without focusing on 2006 makes a mistake."
Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner also spent Sunday afternoon at the steak fry, and left little doubt that he is looking ahead to 2008.
"You know and I know that it all starts in Iowa," Warner told the audience. "Do your part. We're going to take back the Congress this year and then we're going to take back our nation."
Warner accused President Bush of using the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to inject the issue of terrorism into the 2006 race. Warner said the strategy is proof that the GOP is nervous and trying to scare voters.
"I think Americans feel President Bush missed an opportunity on the fifth anniversary of 9/11 to bring our country together, to call us to some level of common cause and shared sacrifice," Warner told The Associated Press.
Obama said he and other Democrats want to take the nation in a different direction, but he vowed not to "demonize" Republicans. He said a carefully cast message could lure moderate Republicans who are uncomfortable with the White House's hard-line conservative stance.
"The American people are ready for change," he said. "The American people recognize the path (of) the last five years has not made us more competitive, has not opened more opportunities and has not made us safer."
Obama called the attention he has received "flattering," recalling how he was treated like a hero when he traveled to Kenya this summer to visit his father's home village. He also noted that rumors of his presidential ambitions began the day after he was elected to the Senate in 2004, when someone asked him about his plans for 2008.
"I said you'll have to wait a little while," he said.
In his speech to more than 2,000 activists gathered in a county park, Obama also warned that many voters are losing hope that the government is on their side.
"Even those of us in public life get a certain cynicism," he said. "We've got a lot of self-important leaders who are long on rhetoric and short on ideas.
"People still believe that in America the promise is limitless, but they aren't sure their leaders do."
Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, center, makes his way through the crowd with Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, left, before speaking to local Democrats at Harkin's annual fundraising steak fry dinner, Sunday, Sept. 17, 2006, in Indianola, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
The first thing they need to do is get rid of whackos with room-temperature IQs and fake African names.
Truth be told neither one of them is fit to be in the Senate.
L
No you dont, you need tough security action.
The Democrats in a nutshell, all about appearance, never action.
Well Obama, all you've gotta do is repudiate your current stance, and adopt Bush's.
The DemonRATs will continue to vigorously campaign against and vote against every security issue raised by the Bush administration.
They can't help themselves.
Nobody will be able to take them seriously on national defense.
If they win at all, it will only be for some other reason.
.
He means they only need to take a tough stance until after the election. I'm not stupid enough to believe they actually want a tough stance on national security for real.
If you suddenly need to pretend to be tough on national security just because there's an election coming up, how serious can you really be about it in the first place?
Evidently, Mike Glover wants to have Obamas baby.
Talk about a written BJ!
It says a lot about the Democrat Party that it has to rely on a freshman senator for leadership.
"We've got a lot of self-important leaders who are long on rhetoric and short on ideas," Barack Obama confessed.
Don't you love it when politicians talk honestly about themselves.
Lieberman is ample evidence that Rs have nothing to fear on this front.
And Rosie O'Donnell needs to think before she speaks. It ain't gonna happen.
It's a little hard to get a "tough security stance" when you are counting on the votes of Islamofascists and illegal aliens to get yourself elected.
Amen. and Amen again!
AP giving huge props to a freshman senator. I know I am just obsessing, but if a watchdog group asked AP to show it doesn't play favorites broadly in these election pieces, what could it say?
I just ordered two bumper stickers (for my 2 vehicles) which say: Democrats are wimps in the War on Terror: VOTE REPUBLICAN.
Considering that I already get harassed from lib-weenie motorists who hate my "RE-ELECT Sen. RICK SANTORUM" bumper stickers, I can imaging all the grief I will get when I slap these new stickers on.
a leopard can not change its spots
Obama is right. The Dems would be much more competitive if they weren't positioning themselves against America's success in the War in Iraq. You can't run against America and hope to win much of anything and that is really what the left is doing. The only thing that is saving them is the Republicans are too dim to take adavantage of this weakness the way they should. McCain is the key problem, he offers the left a spokesman to say how questioning their patriotism is mean and such and such. What Patriotism is what I ask???? There is none, they smirk and roll their eyes at Patriotism!!!
More fake, phony, fraudulent Jackass posturing. How stupid can he be to think voters are that stupid? I saw some Moonbat driving the other day with a OBAMA for President sticker on the bumper of her older Subaru sedan. Nevermind that one of her tires was low and all her windows were shut except for the right rear. How did that come about? And how could she not notice? Thank God people like that constitute Obama's "base."
Empty suit, empty head. The MSM is showing it's usual
racial bias.
The MSM never gives attention to the black conservatives
except for a sneering glance.
If you NEED a security policy, it's because you DON'T HAVE ONE!
This is the problem with Liberal politicians:
National Security is a campaign issue. It is something to be formulated, triangulated and spun like any other.
Liberals have no real interest or stake in National Security. In general, they dislike and distrust the Military, and many of them do not support the military any further than they must to get elected.
This is why they must not be allowed to hold the office of the Presidency. Their approach to the military and national defense is identical to their approach to religon.
"How can we make those people (Christians) and supporters of the military and a strong defense vote for us? How can we "reach out" to them?"
Say what you will about President Bush and nearly the entire Republican party, there is one thing they have right: They understand and support the military and the mission of maintaining a strong national defense.
He has a funny looking head, don't he?
Has anybody her seen one of those lately? Last I recall seeing one was during RR and then the Contract with America in '94.
Why do the Dems, or the GOP, for that matter, need to adopt a stance inconsistent with what they believe? Maybe it is because it is Sunday evening, or this second glass of wine, but I feel so naive. Why can't politicians take the stand they believe in, and see how the vote goes?
Everyone knows what Dems REALLY believe. Strong stances to the contrary are not convincing.
Like Kerry, Kofi, and Ray School Bus Nagin.
And *that* fact, alone, has me considering that the speculations on the ability of the Democratic Party to remain a viable political party may have more than a little substance to them...
the infowarrior
close the deal
"We have got to show we have a serious agenda for change."
take the nation in a different direction
a carefully cast message
Odd, but I'm still not seeing anything resembling a plan.
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