Tweet
Obama's Record Has Republicans Dusting Off `Liberal' Attacks
Indira Lakshmanan Wed Apr 30, 12:01 AM ET
April 30 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama promises to bridge the ideological divide between Red states and Blue states, bringing Republicans and independents into a post-partisan coalition.
ADVERTISEMENT
if(window.yzq_d==null)window.yzq_d=new Object();window.yzq_d['IU9yCtj8Ym4-']='&U=13be8ia58%2fN%3dIU9yCtj8Ym4-%2fC%3d617789.11927146.12840631.1442997%2fD%3dLREC %2fB%3d5286437';
Republicans plan to paint Obama as a liberal who is out of step with mainstream Americans on abortion, crime and health care, the same label used against failed Democratic candidates George McGovern and John Kerry.
``For someone who's been in office as little as Barack Obama, the guy has a record that defines the word liberal,'' said Chris LaCivita, a Republican media adviser to the Swift Boat veterans who assailed Kerry's Vietnam War record during the Massachusetts senator's 2004 presidential bid.
Opponents such as LaCivita said Obama's vulnerabilities include his support for gay rights, late-term abortions and benefits for illegal aliens. They also portray him as soft on crime, tough on guns and as an advocate of socialized medicine.
Obama, 46, has disavowed or tempered some of the stances he or his campaign once espoused, though on the whole, he stands by what he calls a ``progressive, pragmatic'' agenda.
Gay Marriage
He opposes gay marriage, while supporting civil unions and gays in the military.
His abortion views adhere to the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade ruling, which permits procedures in the third trimester when the mother is at risk.
He favors drivers' licenses for undocumented immigrants and state tuition benefits for their children.
On crime, he advocates eliminating mandatory minimum sentencing for non-violent drug offenders. He said capital punishment is warranted for certain crimes, yet he can't support it due to inequities in its application. While he backs restrictions on guns, he has never voted to ban ownership.
He wants to repeal President George W. Bush's tax cuts, raise the capital-gains tax rate, expand government's role in health care and advocates greater regulation of financial institutions.
He also favors a less confrontational foreign policy than Bush, 61.
At same time he proposes some tax cuts, would expand government and regulatory powers only modestly and wants to boost the size of the military.
Conservatives claim Obama's positions place him out of sync with most Americans. They point to the National Journal's 2007 rating of him as the most liberal senator and intend to cite it in advertisements and fundraising appeals.
`Easy Case'
``It's an easy case to make that Barack Obama is both culturally and ideologically way out of the mainstream,'' said Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster.
The National Journal rated Obama's rival for the Democratic nomination, New York Senator Hillary Clinton, as the 16th most liberal, even though the analysis found the two lawmakers differed on just two ``key'' bills.
The magazine said Clinton, 60, voted against establishing a Senate office to handle ethics complaints, which Obama supported. Clinton also opposed a proposal, backed by Obama, that would allow some immigrants to remain in the U.S. while their visas were being renewed.
Karl Frisch, spokesman for Media Matters for America, a Washington-based media watchdog organization, criticized the rating, saying it is ``remarkably misleading'' to count Obama votes such as those he cast in favor of the 9/11 Commission's recommendations and ethics overhaul as ``liberal.''
Obama's campaign said he is in line with the majority of Americans who support reasonable abortion and gun rights, common sense on immigration and crime and fairness in taxes and health care.
Moderated Positions
For his part, the presumptive Republican nominee, Arizona Senator John McCain, 71, has abandoned stances that are at odds with his party's conservative base --
including his effort to legalize undocumented immigrants
...and his opposition to Bush's tax cuts.
Similarly, Obama has moderated or qualified positions over the years.
He has been criticized by Clinton for responses to a voters' group questionnaire during his first Illinois state Senate run in 1996. In the survey, his answers said he supported federal single-payer health care in principle and a ban on handguns. He opposed capital punishment and restrictions on abortion. Obama has said his then-campaign manager wrote the answers and they didn't reflect his beliefs then or now.
Lois and Alan Dobry, board members of the Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precinct Organization, interviewed Obama when he submitted the questionnaire. It is inconceivable, they said, that he was unaware of the answers, which he defended.
`Unequivocal'
``He was unequivocal,'' Alan Dobry said.
Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor said the senator never agreed with the controversial answers. Obama has a record of ``reaching across the aisle,'' he said.
The Republicans' attack is ``the same playbook they use every four years,'' said Stephanie Cutter, Kerry's communications chief in 2004. ``Whoever the nominee is, they will allege that person is too liberal.''
The assault has begun. The North Carolina Republican Party is running a television ad that brands him as ``too extreme'' by linking him to his former pastor. Obama yesterday denounced ``ridiculous'' comments by Reverend Jeremiah Wright, who repeated contentions this week that the government may have helped spread AIDS and was partly to blame for the Sept. 11 attacks.
``If they think that's bad,'' LaCivita said of the ad, ``it's only a matter of time before they see the really bad stuff.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Indira Lakshmanan in Washington at ilakshmanan@bloomberg.net .
Indira Lakshmanan Wed Apr 30, 12:01 AM ET
April 30 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama promises to bridge the ideological divide between Red states and Blue states, bringing Republicans and independents into a post-partisan coalition.
ADVERTISEMENT
Republicans plan to paint Obama as a liberal who is out of step with mainstream Americans on abortion, crime and health care, the same label used against failed Democratic candidates George McGovern and John Kerry.
``For someone who's been in office as little as Barack Obama, the guy has a record that defines the word liberal,'' said Chris LaCivita, a Republican media adviser to the Swift Boat veterans who assailed Kerry's Vietnam War record during the Massachusetts senator's 2004 presidential bid.
Opponents such as LaCivita said Obama's vulnerabilities include his support for gay rights, late-term abortions and benefits for illegal aliens. They also portray him as soft on crime, tough on guns and as an advocate of socialized medicine.
Obama, 46, has disavowed or tempered some of the stances he or his campaign once espoused, though on the whole, he stands by what he calls a ``progressive, pragmatic'' agenda.
Gay Marriage
He opposes gay marriage, while supporting civil unions and gays in the military.
His abortion views adhere to the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade ruling, which permits procedures in the third trimester when the mother is at risk.
He favors drivers' licenses for undocumented immigrants and state tuition benefits for their children.
On crime, he advocates eliminating mandatory minimum sentencing for non-violent drug offenders. He said capital punishment is warranted for certain crimes, yet he can't support it due to inequities in its application. While he backs restrictions on guns, he has never voted to ban ownership.
He wants to repeal President George W. Bush's tax cuts, raise the capital-gains tax rate, expand government's role in health care and advocates greater regulation of financial institutions.
He also favors a less confrontational foreign policy than Bush, 61.
At same time he proposes some tax cuts, would expand government and regulatory powers only modestly and wants to boost the size of the military.
Conservatives claim Obama's positions place him out of sync with most Americans. They point to the National Journal's 2007 rating of him as the most liberal senator and intend to cite it in advertisements and fundraising appeals.
`Easy Case'
``It's an easy case to make that Barack Obama is both culturally and ideologically way out of the mainstream,'' said Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster.
The National Journal rated Obama's rival for the Democratic nomination, New York Senator Hillary Clinton, as the 16th most liberal, even though the analysis found the two lawmakers differed on just two ``key'' bills.
The magazine said Clinton, 60, voted against establishing a Senate office to handle ethics complaints, which Obama supported. Clinton also opposed a proposal, backed by Obama, that would allow some immigrants to remain in the U.S. while their visas were being renewed.
Karl Frisch, spokesman for Media Matters for America, a Washington-based media watchdog organization, criticized the rating, saying it is ``remarkably misleading'' to count Obama votes such as those he cast in favor of the 9/11 Commission's recommendations and ethics overhaul as ``liberal.''
Obama's campaign said he is in line with the majority of Americans who support reasonable abortion and gun rights, common sense on immigration and crime and fairness in taxes and health care.
Moderated Positions
For his part, the presumptive Republican nominee, Arizona Senator John McCain, 71, has abandoned stances that are at odds with his party's conservative base --
including his effort to legalize undocumented immigrants
...and his opposition to Bush's tax cuts.
Similarly, Obama has moderated or qualified positions over the years.
He has been criticized by Clinton for responses to a voters' group questionnaire during his first Illinois state Senate run in 1996. In the survey, his answers said he supported federal single-payer health care in principle and a ban on handguns. He opposed capital punishment and restrictions on abortion. Obama has said his then-campaign manager wrote the answers and they didn't reflect his beliefs then or now.
Lois and Alan Dobry, board members of the Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precinct Organization, interviewed Obama when he submitted the questionnaire. It is inconceivable, they said, that he was unaware of the answers, which he defended.
`Unequivocal'
``He was unequivocal,'' Alan Dobry said.
Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor said the senator never agreed with the controversial answers. Obama has a record of ``reaching across the aisle,'' he said.
The Republicans' attack is ``the same playbook they use every four years,'' said Stephanie Cutter, Kerry's communications chief in 2004. ``Whoever the nominee is, they will allege that person is too liberal.''
The assault has begun. The North Carolina Republican Party is running a television ad that brands him as ``too extreme'' by linking him to his former pastor. Obama yesterday denounced ``ridiculous'' comments by Reverend Jeremiah Wright, who repeated contentions this week that the government may have helped spread AIDS and was partly to blame for the Sept. 11 attacks.
``If they think that's bad,'' LaCivita said of the ad, ``it's only a matter of time before they see the really bad stuff.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Indira Lakshmanan in Washington at ilakshmanan@bloomberg.net .