Candidate Obama Verses President Obama

President Takes Credit For Siding With Iraq Strategy He Criticized, Troops He Worked To Defund
PRESIDENT OBAMA: “While Other Individuals And Institutions Have Shirked Responsibility, [Americans In Uniform] Have Welcomed It.” “While our country has sometimes been divided, they have fought together as one. While other individuals and institutions have shirked responsibility, they have welcomed it.” (“Obama: ‘Sacrifice In Iraq’ Not Over,” Politico, 8/2/10)

Then-Sen. Obama: “The President’s Strategy Will Not Work.”
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL): “…20,000 Troops Is Not Gonna Make A Difference” “What I did not see from the President was any recognition that there is not a military solution to the problems that we face in Iraq right now… And in the absence of that, 20,000 troops is not gonna make a difference.” (ABC’s “Nightline,” 1/10/07)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL): “…The President’s Strategy Will Not Work.” “What was striking to me in listening to all the testimony that was provided, was the almost near unanimity that the president's strategy will not work.”(Foreign Relations Committee, U.S. Senate, Hearing, 1/24/07)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL): “Tonight We Heard President Bush Say That The Surge In Iraq Is Working, When We Know That's Just Not True.” (Paul Handley, “Democrats Blast Bush’s ‘Failed Policies,’ ‘Empty Rhetoric,’” Agence France Presse, 1/29/08)

Senate Democrats, Including Sen. Obama, Fought To Cut Off Funds For Troops In The Field
SEN. RUSS FEINGOLD (D-WI): “And What The Feingold-Reid Amendment Was -- Started With Was A Proposal To Use The Power Of The Purse To Try To Use Congress' Power To Bring This Mistake To An End. It Was Considered Absolute Heresy Four Months Ago.” (Sen. Feingold, Press Conference, 5/16/07)

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV) On The Feingold Resolution: “An Important Issue That I Support Wholeheartedly.” “So we'll see what we have here in the Senate on Feingold. It's, I think, an important issue that I support wholeheartedly.” (Sen. Reid, Press Briefing, 5/15/07)

S.AMDT. 1098 KEY PROVISION: “PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS.-- No funds appropriated or otherwise made available under any provision of law may be obligated or expended to continue the deployment in Iraq of members of the United States Armed Forces after March 31, 2008.” (S.Amdt.1098, Roll Call Vote #167, Cloture Motion Rejected 29-67; R 0-48; D 28-19; I 1-1, 5/16/07)

S.AMDT.2924 KEY PROVISION: “Use of Funds.-- No funds appropriated or otherwise made available under any provision of law may be obligated or expended to continue the deployment in Iraq of members of the United States Armed Forces after June 30, 2008.” (S.Amdt.2924, Roll Call Vote #345, Cloture Motion Rejected 28-70; R 0-49; D 27-20; I 1-1, 9/20/07)

Democrats Criticized Petraeus Surge, Campaigned On Opposing Plan
SEN. JOE BIDEN: “This [The Petraeus’ Plan] Is Ridiculous. There Is No Plan… He May Be The Only One Who Believes This Is A Good Idea.” “This is ridiculous. There is no plan. I ask the President and everyone else who comes forward with a plan, whether it is capping or surging or whatever they have: Will it answer the two-word test: Then what? Then what? Then what? What happens after we surge these women and men? And by the way, he said General Petraeus is one who believes. He may be the only one who believes this is a good idea. Virtually no one else thinks it is a good idea.” (Sen. Biden, Congressional Record, S.3080, 3/14/07)

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV) On Gen. Petraeus: “I Don’t Believe Him.” Q: “…General Petraeus is going to come to the Hill and make it clear to you that there is progress going on in Iraq, that the so-called surge is working. Will you believe him when he says that?” SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV): “No, I don't believe him, because it's not happening. All you have to do is look at the facts.” (CNN’s “The Situation Room,” 4/23/07)

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV): “We Are Going To Pick Up Senate Seats As A Result Of This War… Senator Schumer Has Shown Me Numbers That Are Compelling And Astounding.” (Shailagh Murray, “Reid Sees Gains on Iraq,” The Washington Post, 4/13/07)

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL) On Gen. Petraeus: He’s “Carefully Manipulating The Statistics.” “By carefully manipulating the statistics, the Bush-Petraeus report will try to persuade us that violence in Iraq is decreasing and thus the surge is working. Even if the figures were right, the conclusion is wrong.” (Sen. Durbin, Remarks To The Center For National Policy, Washington, D.C., 9/7/07)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): “This Is A Campaign.” “We intend to address the Iraq issue … The heat on those Republican senators up in '08 is tremendous and growing, and that's why they're squirming. … This is a campaign.” (Sen. Schumer, Press Conference, 3/9/07)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA): “As For Where We Go From Here, It's Not Really A Secret Plan. We Force Votes On Iraq Again And Again And Again. We Pressure Them Every Chance We Can Get. And I think these Republicans who stand with George Bush’s rotten policy will squirm. … We have a number of groups organizing in key Senate states, such as the AAEI's campaign with USAction, that have been running ads and building field operations. All Of This Is Slowly Taking Its Toll -- If We Continue To Build It, They Will Crack. As An Old Friend Of Mine Used To Say, Nothing Focuses The Mind Of A Politician Like The Prospect Of Defeat At The Polls.” (Sen. Kerry, dailykos.com, Accessed 05/24/07)

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