Barack Obama Doesn't Triangulate

Hillary Clinton is one of the three leading candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination. But she is vulnerable on the issue of 'triangulating,' meaning she's overanalyzes how her position will play with voters rather than simply doing what's best for the country. Of course, Senator Clinton is correct that a president has to be able to unify the country and that means building a broad consensus. But I suspect the country wants politicians who talk straight like Senator Jim Webb.

Hillary is also vulnerable on the issue of her vote for the Iraq resolution. Something to keep in mind is that she is technically correct that the vote was not a full authorization for war. In fact, there were calls just before the war for another vote on Iraq but a proper vote never took place. But perception is critical in politics and Bush took full advantage of the perception at the time that the October Iraq resolution gave him all the authority he needed to deal with Iraq. That was where the blunder was made by a majority of the members of Congress, both Republicans and Democrats.

Senator Clinton didn't run for reelection to the Senate until 2006; if she were truly against the war or had serious doubts, she would have had four years to defend her position if she had voted no. Now I'm really not one of those holding such votes against the candidates; it was a bizarre situation that involved a great deal of deception and strong arming on the part of the Bush Administration (I'm speaking specifically about what happened to the career people in the military and CIA). But it's a simple fact that Hillary has some explaining to do and she's now fudging her explanations the way Bill Clinton used to fudge. I voted for Bill Clinton twice but we're in a different era now and Senator Clinton needs to understand that.

Whether it's a wise move or not (sometimes it's better to let the media or even bloggers handle these things) Barack Obama is taking Senator Clinton to task on her Iraq position; here's the story from the Telegraph of the UK (the Telegraph is a British paper but even they might be slanting the story somewhat; on the other hand, there are similar stories elsewhere):

[Barack Obama said,] "I feel good about the fact that my judgment was we shouldn't be proceeding and I think that speaks hopefully to the kind of judgment I'll be bringing to the office of president."

Mrs Clinton, he charged, was also vague about how she would end the war beyond promising to bring it to a close if she were elected. "How she wants to accomplish that, I'm not clear."

Mr Obama, 45, who has been criticised by the Clinton camp for a lack of experience, showed that he was not going to let his main opponents off the hook.

(snip)

Mrs Clinton, campaigning in New Hampshire at the same time, had to field hostile questions about her vote from disgruntled Democrats. Mr Obama also took Mrs Clinton's early campaign slogan of "I'm in it to win it" to suggest she was interested only in getting elected.

"I am in it to win it," he said, responding to calls from a Davenport crowd. "Hold on. But I want you to understand that I'm also I'm in it to transform the country."

At a breakfast in Iowa Falls, he appeared to take another shot at Mrs Clinton, who is often accused of excessive ambition. "I'm not one of those people who decided at the age of seven that I wanted to be president."

The campaign is young. Democrats need to be careful that while it's perfectly legitimate to stake out their turf, they need to make sure they're not getting too negative. Barack Obama has a good wit and it's important, I suspect, that he keep his potshots on the light side. The Senator from New York could also do a better job of lightening up and being straighter with voters. But my judgment stands and it's loud and clear: the Democrats have strong candidates for 2008 and that certainly includes Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.