I was talking to a moderate Republican client of mine the other day about Barack Obama. He’s enthralled with the man, and mentioned that he might cross party lines to vote for him. (He’s not fond of any of the announced candidates on the Republican side.) I mentioned that Obama was a little more to the left than he may have known. He was surprised.
I didn’t mention how far to the left Obama is. According to this article, and based on voting records, Obama is to the left of Dennis Kucinich.
(h/t Dogwood Pundit)
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VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Bull………
That’s interesting. I am going to read the actual report. There are certain aspects of the Obama Persona that I like, not the least of which is his openess.
A little to liberal for me (even before the report) but still a likeable personality and man as far as I can tell.
I don’t fault your moderate friend for considering him. He has his merits.
Obama is to the left of Kucinich the way that Ben Nelson is to the left of Kucinich.
Which is to say: he isn’t.
What a shoddy assed job by the National Journal. They compared two years of Obama votes (in a GOP controlled situation) against the full evolution of Kucinich’s 10 year congressional career.
Honestly, I didn’t think anybody was to the left of Kucinich.
Disclaimer: in 2004, I did one of those online “who should you vote for” thingees and the candidate they picked for me? Kucinich 😉
Heh. I think that Kucinich is one of those elected officials who are doing just fine where they are (and I mean that in a complimentary sense). Honestly, my politics probably line up with his on a point-by-point basis more than any other Democratic candidate out there. But I’ve never even considered supporting his primary efforts. Why? I just don’t think he’d be a capable President. While I often chafe at my fellow Democrats who seem exclusively obsessed with electability, I think he’s so far gone that it’s really not a helpful exercise for him to participate as a candidate (cf. Sharpton, who I DO think served a useful purpose, even though he’s an even longer shot than Kucinich).
That can be expect when Obama speaks vaguely in bromidic platitudes and meaningless feel good cliches. It is amazing anyone knows anything about him.
Had he been forced to run against a real challenger in his home state- he was spared such a fate when a messy divorce record became public causing his opponent to drop out- I doubt he would be so much loved and adored. But since he is running against Hillary I have no doubt that the skeletons in his closet will come out soon enough- especially if Hillary tries to run to his right.
Somewhere, Alan Keyes just shed a tear.
“Somewhere, Alan Keyes just shed a tear.”
He should be ashamed for entering that race in the first place. An out of state interloper taking up space on the ticket. He presented no serious challenge to someone like Obama.
Although, I am sure this will be excused as the usual politicians behavior, I dislike Obama for one very important reason (outside his politics). That reason can be seen here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=U-MYq2TZ73Q
Another person in politics for whom fame and power is more intoxicating than the simple joy to be found in standing by your word- just what we needed.
Obama favors death penalty.
I’m not sure if he actually more liberal than Kucinich. National Journal had his composite Liberal score for 2006 at 86, as compared to Kucinich’s 2006 Liberal composite score of 87. Although, I do find it important to note that Obama’s “lifetime” liberal composite score is higher than Kucinich’s. Given that Kucinich has cast far more votes than Obama, you can determine the validity of that statistic on your own.
So, Obama may not be more Liberal than Kucinich per se (although, he is more liberal than Dodd, Clinton, or Biden), but I think that just the fact that he’s so close to Kucinich in terms of political views debunks one of the greatest myths about Obama. That myth, of course, being that he’s just another middle-of-the-road DLC DINO.
I didn’t think anyone could out-left Kusinich, so I don’t know if I actually believe these results…I think it would be better to look at Kusinich’s entire House career for the evaluation.
But, I am glad for their evaluation. It’s clear that Obama is the most liberal of all the Democratic Senators running. And, it makes it clear that his record doesn’t even come close to middle-of-the-roaders like Olympia Snowe. The way that some complain about how ‘ conservative’ Obama is, you’d think his voting record was more akin to Sam Brownback, than what it actually is.