THE IRAQ WAR, A POSITIVE MESSAGE, CONCENTRATING ON THE ISSUES

For all the candidates early in the campaign, Democratic or Republi- can, the Iraq war was a defining issue, and Barack spoke about it from the beginning of his campaign. In his speeches, he told crowds about his plan to end the Iraq war and reminded everyone that he opposed the war from

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the beginning. This stance on one of the most important issues of the time quickly set his campaign apart from his opponents, who had voted for the war authorization. Of those who had voted for the Iraq war, several were now apologizing or expressing regret for their vote. In a February 2007 interview, Barack said, “The authorization vote is relevant only because it gives an insight into how people think about these problems and suggests the sort of judgment they apply in evaluating a policy decision. There are people who sincerely believe that this was the best course of action, but in some cases politics entered into the calculation. In retrospect, a lot of

people feel like they didn’t ask hard enough questions.” 6 He told audi- ences that the United States was continuing in a war that should never have been authorized and added that he was proud of saying in October 2002 that the war was a mistake. His opponents countered these statements with the fact that Barack had not given a policy speech on Iraq until he’d been in the Senate for 11 months. In response, Barack stated that, during his first year in the Senate, he took a deliberate low-key ap- proach and didn’t make any major speeches on issues that were being discussed or voted upon, stating, “As a freshman, our objective was not to try to get in the front all the time. But the truth is that in that first year, we had just seen an Iraqi election, and my feeling was that while I was not optimistic, it was appropriate to try to give the nascent government a

chance.” 7 Barack was also criticized for the fact that he had voted against

a Senate amendment seeking to set a specific timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, a vote taken up by the Senate long after the authorization vote. As was often noted by his opponents, it was easier for Barack to campaign against the war and communicate his stance against the war because he wasn’t in the Senate when the authorization was voted on in October 2002. When asked if senators who voted in favor of authorizing the war bear some responsibility for the war in Iraq, Barack answered that the authorization allowed the Bush administration to wage a war that has damaged national security. “I leave it up to those senators to make their own assessments in how they would do things differently or not.” 8

Barack told huge crowds at his campaign rallies that he had a message of hope, that he would run a positive campaign, and that he wouldn’t resort to negativity against his Democratic Party opponents. He was determined to concentrate on the issues and communicate his message that included what he would do as president. He said he knew Americans were looking for something new and different in politics, and he assured them that he was the answer. His difference, he said, was about attitude, stressing that the bitter, decisive politics of the past could change if everyone would work together on common interests and on what concerns the United

101 States. He said that he wanted to unite Americans and work closely with

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those who disagreed with him to find common ground. This, he said, was the attitude of coming together and working together. In his book The Au- dacity of Hope, Barack wrote about his time as an Illinois senator, depicting himself as a bipartisan problem solver. “Occasionally I would partner up with even my most conservative colleagues to work on a piece of legisla- tion, and over a poker game or a beer we might conclude that we had more in common than we publicly cared to admit.” 9

With his ideas of change, a commitment to run a positive campaign, the conveyance of a message of hope, and his stance against the Iraq war, the crowds were cheering and Barack’s message was resonating. At a campaign stop in Denver in March 2007, Barack told hundreds of people that

he understood they no longer had confidence in their elected leaders and that they believed “government feels like a business instead of a mission.” His campaign, he assured them, was their campaign, shouting, “We have to take over Washington. At every juncture when the people decided to

change this country, it changed.” 10 Touching on health care, education, and energy, his biggest response came when he stated once again that the Iraq war should never have been authorized and added that the United States was less safe and America’s standing in the world was diminished.

A Denver man standing near the stage stated to a Denver Post reporter that

he already knew he was backing Barack for president. “He has soul and a conscience, and he’s looking out for Joe Blow.” A woman in the crowd, de- scribing herself as a lifelong Republican, said she hadn’t been happy with the current administration and, after hearing Barack’s speech, she liked

what he said. 11 The next day, a columnist for the Denver Post wrote that Barack would need ongoing inspiration to keep conveying his optimism to voters and wondered whether Barack could continue to inspire after his short time on the campaign trail. In the article, he quoted a 63-year-old man who’d driven to Denver to hear Barack: “He gives me hope as a presidential candidate. He will win because the American public is ready for a change. He’s energized people to a level I haven’t seen since JFK [ John F. Kennedy] and RFK [Robert F. Kennedy].” He wrote about a 19-year-old college student who said she wanted to vote for someone she could believe in, and of a 59-year-old woman who wanted to see Barack in person, add- ing that there was something about Barack that made her think she could trust him, that she thought the idea of being hopeful again was wonderful, and that she hadn’t been that hopeful since 1968. The key, the columnist said, was for Barack to continue to inspire and to keep voters’ attention. He agreed with an advertising salesman in the crowd: “He’s timely. But as this thing goes on, he’s got to get a lot more specific and a lot stronger.” 12

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The sensation that was Barack Obama quickly knew no borders. While there was great interest in the 2008 presidential race throughout the world, there was particular interest in the popular young senator from Illinois. Barack was being covered by the foreign media—from Tokyo, London, Frankfurt, and Nairobi. A spokesperson for an Italian news agency stated, “Hillary and Barack are the big stars as far as the coverage is concerned. For us to have Italian journalists traveling to Springfield, Illinois, two

years before the election is, by Italian standards, crazy.” 13 While there was global interest in U.S. politics and the presidential race, there was per- haps a greater interest in Barack Obama because of his African American heritage, his message, and the huge crowds showing up at every venue on the campaign trail.

By the end of March 2007, Barack announced his campaign had raised more than 100,000 donations totaling at least $25 million, $6.9 million generated through Internet donations. A great percentage of the donors were first-time donors who sent $50 to $100 from home com- puters. Barack’s campaign finance chair, Penny Pritzker, stated, “This overwhelming response, in only a few short weeks, shows the hunger for

a different kind of politics in this country and a belief at the grassroots level that Barack Obama can bring out the best in America to solve our problems.” 14

By April 2007, with just over two months of campaigning, Barack was cast by many in the media as the candidate who refused money from Washington lobbyists, skillfully used the Internet to garner support and contributions, effectively used his opposition to the war, presented a genu- ine enthusiasm and message to successfully bring in an enormous amount of campaign contributions, and effectively used his persona and public speaking abilities to garner media coverage and support—all making him

a legitimate contender for the Democratic nomination. That same month, Barack announced what he called his Five Initiatives:

1. Bring a responsible end to the war in Iraq and refocus on the critical challenges in the broader region.

2. Modernize our overstretched armed forces, building the first truly twenty-first-century military, and show wisdom in how to deploy it.

3. Marshal a global effort to secure, destroy, and stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

4. Rebuild and construct the alliances and partnerships necessary to meet common challenges and confront common threats.

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5. Invest in our common humanity to ensure that those who live in fear and want today can live with dignity and opportunity tomorrow.

These weren’t the only concerns and issues facing the United States; however, Barack knew he had to strongly show he had a firm grasp on de- fense and foreign policy and plainly show his strengths as commander in chief. Deflecting the criticisms of his opponents and the media, and also the concerns of voters, Barack was determined to show his strengths and send a clear message about where he stood on the important issues facing the United States. 15

Barack’s campaign was obviously gaining momentum; however, with more and constant media exposure and more people listening, with this momentum came scrutiny of his experience and countless questions about his stance on issues, his voting record, and his experience in public policy. Could he be consistent in his answers? Could he persuade the American people that he could handle being president? Could he satisfy concerns with his answers? Could he satisfy and placate voters, bloggers, and the media? According to an April 14, 2007, article in The Economist, while Barack had shown he could bring in campaign contributions and amass large numbers of donors, could he pass a test on foreign policy issues? During a debate in Las Vegas, Senator Edwards and Senator Clinton were each clear in their answers, providing details, proposals, and evidence of their mastery on various subjects. Barack, conversely, waffled on his answers. The questions about his performance were whether his answers and waffling were based on his inexperience or whether they were due to his known preference for giving speeches rather than detailed answers in a debate format about policy and issues.

In an effort to combat concerns about his foreign policy experience, Barack recruited highly talented, experienced, and well-known and re- spected individuals to advise him, including a former national security adviser and a former commerce secretary. Although he had only 2 years’ experience in the U.S. Senate and 6 years in state politics, Barack had taught constitutional law for 10 years and also possessed something per- haps more important than experience: sound judgment. He argued effectively against the Iraq war in 2002 and noted that Saddam Hussein posed no imminent danger or direct threat to the United States; he warned that “even a successful war against Iraq will require a U.S. occu- pation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined

consequences.” 16 While Senator Clinton was clearly the front-runner in

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all the polls, Barack had the ability, judgment, and impressive wherewithal to put together policy statements on a wide range of topics, and he had

the intelligence to not trip over details that would cause embarrassment. 17 Still, many observers were claiming that he talked in broad generalities rather than details, leaving some with the impression that he lacked the policy experience to be president.

THE IRAQ WAR, A POSITIVE MESSAGE, CONCENTRATING ON THE ISSUES