According to Sen. Barack Obama, we North Dakotans' desire for hope and change is all that is needed to turn us electoral blue come November. We got a little dose of Obama's change during his visit to Fargo; that is, he changed his position on an Iraq withdrawal plan.
During his primary campaign, he operated strictly on the supposition that the war had already been lost and was not worth fighting for, which is why he introduced legislation for a complete withdrawal of combat troops by March 2008. When asked in the primary debates if he would stick to his pledge of a 16-month withdrawal "no matter what the military commanders say," he answered in the affirmative, expounding, "because the commander in chief sets the mission."
Now, campaigning in a conservative state during the general election, Obama has said that he is willing to "refine" his Iraq withdrawal policy after he takes his upcoming trip to Iraq. Although I'd like to think he has finally recognized the terrible consequences of defeat and the undeniable success of the troop surge Sen. John McCain advocated long before the Bush administration, his post-nomination reversals concerning gun control, FISA, NAFTA and public financing point to mere political posturing.
What's next? Will an Obama, who twice voted against a ban on killing newborns who survived abortion, suddenly become pro-life? Maybe that's just a little hope on my part.
