Touché

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 529

This hit my in box from the Dodd campaign today and is just too interesting not to post on:

MANCHESTER, NH -- In response to criticism of his recent foreign policy pronouncements, Senator Obama has pointed to his opposition to the Iraq war while he was a State Senator from Illinois. However, he has neglected to mention that he said that he did not know what he would have done if he were in the U.S. Senate at the time of the vote to authorize the war.

"In a recent interview, he declined to criticize Senators Kerry and Edwards for voting to authorize the war, although he said he would not have done the same based on the information he had at the time. 'But, I'm not privy to Senate intelligence reports,' Mr. Obama said. 'What would I have done? I don't know. What I know is that from my vantage point the case was not made.'" [New York Times, 7/26/04]

"Senator Obama's position as a state senator rings hollow in light of the fact that he himself says he doesn't know how he would have voted as a U.S. Senator," said Chris Dodd. "It's going to take leadership in the U.S. Senate to end the war in Iraq. That's why I led the fight for a firm deadline and clearly and unequivocally stated my opposition to supplemental funding for George Bush's failed policy - something that can't be said of all the candidates."

Someone in Dodd's oppo research team has certainly been busy, and they may have struck gold with this. This goes right at one of Obama's principal claims to leadership: he knows better than the other candidates on Iraq, and, by implication, foreign policy generally. It also hits Obama's credibility. As such, it's too strong a hit to let go unanswered by Obama's campaign. It will be interesting to see the response.