"Barrack Obama has never stood up against his party"

[Bonn1997]

I hear this line a lot from the McCain camp. How would you respond? The obvious response would be that Sen Obama stood up to his party on *the biggest issue of our generation*: The Iraq war. Maybe Obama's team is worried that this will lead to a discussion about the fact that Sen. Biden voted for the war resolution? Or maybe they don't think the criticism by McCain is strong enough to even be worth addressing? What do you think?

[Bicoastal]

1. Psssst...

"Barrack" is a place where soldiers sleep on an army base.

"Barack" is the first name of our 44th president.

But otherwise, good post.

[Bonn1997]

17. Problem? I enjoy discussing debates

I've already said Obama was magnificent but that doesn't mean we can't discuss specific responses, does it?

[Bicoastal]

27. What I'm SAYING is: SPELL HIS NAME CORRECTLY!

[Bonn1997]

30. That's It?

OK, my bad. Sorry. I spelled his name right in the donation I made this morning. Is that good enough?

[Bonn1997]

24. And I've donated to the campaign already this morning

through DU

[mscuedawg]

2. Where is the line drawn btwn....

...standing up to your party and standing up for what you believe?

[glowing]

3. Obama handled it nicely the last debate.. Why would I cross the line

when I beleive George Bush's policies are wrong for America?

[TTUBatfan2008]

4. Please spell his name correctly...

It's Barack, not Barrack.

[CitizenPatriot]

5. the real answer is

He doesn't need to stand up to his party; That is an accusation only a Republican needs to address right now, and in typical Rovian style, they are pinning it on a Democrat.

People are not sick of 8 years of Liberalism. Hello??? Why would he need to "stand up" to his party? Obama's party is the one everyone wants to vote for. Duh.

McSame is just trying to share the load of having to differentiate himself from Bush, which he can't do, so he points his stub by, inadequate fingers at Obama.

I do wish someone would point out that this argument is based on NOTHING and therefore invalid. But, as usual, the pundits eat it up, never questioning the logic.

[Bonn1997]

14. That's a good point and

maybe it's better left unsaid than for Obama to directly state that.

[LiberalFighter]

26. If we go by what McCain claims that he has stood up against his party more than Obama

Doesn't that suggest that the Republican Party has been wrong more times than the Democratic Party?

[CitizenPatriot]

28. exactly.

these people really try my patience with their utter lack of logic.

McCain, any moran knows you SHOULD have stood up to your failed party's policies. But a) you didn't and b) you are your party's failed policies.

Go Away, Please, you DEREGULATOR.

Enough said.

[Lorien]

6. The Democratic party is more conservative than Democratic voters

and Obama is pretty conservative-so what should he be standing up against? Maybe if took on the Patriot act or corporate personhood-but both sides of the aisle support them, so until there's a greater liberal majority there really isn't much point in taking on those issues.

[olkaz]

7. This is a good question, and Republicans are smart to ask it.

Barack hasn't been in the scene long enough to really have this situation happen (especially in such a polarized time), which is yet one more thing the Republicans can hit him on.

I would ignore this and attack McCain on how he has flip flopped on every one of those situations where he originally reached across the aisle, showing that he hasn't really been bipartisan anyway, making the point moot.

[ellacott]

16. This is a very good point

I also wish they would push it. As John Kerry said, Sen. McCain would not vote for candidate McCain.

[TechBear_Seattle]

8. My response would be, "The Democratic Party isn't as loathsome as the GOP."

Why would you need to stand against your own party when you agree with what your party is doing? And if you are regularly having to stand up against your own party, then why are you associated with that party?

[iiibbb]

10. McCain only stands up to his party 5% of the time.

[liberal N proud]

9. McCain only repeated it 5 -6 times last night

[trudyco]

11. He probably prefers keeping it on the economy

Bringing up the invasion of Iraq would change the subject. But he can do that if he feels this gets traction.

I just wish he could go in and clean up the economy the day after the elections. January looks like a Looooong ways away.

[Jennicut]

12. What need was there to stand up to the Dems when Bush was the real problem?

Like duh McCrap!

[NatBurner]

13. from CNN's Fact Check:

In 2005, Obama was one of only 18 Democrats to vote in favor of a business-backed bill to limit class action lawsuits by forcing the most-expensive into federal court. The majority of Democrats voted against the bill, which was opposed by consumer groups and the trial lawyers lobby.

The journal also noted that Obama sided with Sen. Jim DeMint, R-South Carolina, who wanted greater disclosure of earmarks in an ethics bill, by voting against an attempt by Obama's home-state mentor, Democratic Whip Richard J. Durbin, to kill DeMint's disclosure amendment.

And, Obama has criticized leading Democrats, including former presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-New York, for voting to authorize the Iraq war in 2002. However, many of those comments were made in the context of the Democratic primary campaign and that vote was prior to his time in the Senate.

Verdict: False. While McCain is correct that Obama has supported the Democratic leadership almost all of the time, to say he's never differed with them is not true.

[TwilightGardener]

15. Why would he have to? Obama agrees with his party 98% of the time.

And 98% of the time, the Democrats are right on the issues.

[BurtWorm]

18. Furthermore, so do most of the American voters.

[TwilightGardener]

25. Right--what's he going to do, pull a Lieberman and insist we stay

in Iraq? Decide that universal health care is a bad idea after all? Start advocating waterboarding? Vote against SCHIP?

[stray cat]

19. Too busy having to stand against the disasterous Bush policies

[Bonn1997]

21. Now that would have been a good response!

[Bonn1997]

20. Two separate issues here

One is *should* Obama be standing up to the party. This is what people here are discussing in the thread.

The other, which I was raising is, how (if at all) would you respond in a debate if McCain made the comment several times?

[mrcheerful]

22. Just keep repeating that McTurd rubber stamped every one of Bush's

wants. Remember Pukes say the other side is doing what they the pukes are doing, drive it home. Pukes are about the dumbest critters on earth, heck even T-Rex had a bigger brain then pukes have. Think about the puke mind, government can't be trusted except for the one run by the pukes wtf? Hell, show me one liberal that trusts government reguardless of who is in charge?

I realize that when Obama wins he isn't going to change government back to Clintons time, just like Clinton didn't change things back to pre Reagan the worm food times. We can only go forwards and pick the person that best looks out for our interests, we as in the little people. Things will get better under democratic rule, but they will never be 100% better as there is to much big money influancing our public servents to vote against some things that us little people need. But a small bone is better then no bone at all.

[JaneQPublic]

23. To vote AGAINST the Dems would be to vote WITH Bush...

...Bush, who is the cause of all the problems we're now facing.

Bush, who stood in stark opposition to almost everything the Dem leadership in Congress supported.

Bush, who now has the approval of only 25 percent of the public, the lowest approval rate since Nixon.

Bush, whom McSame voted WITH over 90 percent of the time.

Nobody gives a damn how often Obama stood up to his own party (which, by the way, has only been in power in Congress for the last year and 9 months). The question is whether these candidates stood up to an Administration that has repeatedly taking actions leading this country down a disastrously wrong path.

Obama stood up to the worst president in history. McSame voted with him, campaigned for his reelection, and if elected will have all the same White House insiders dancing at his inaugural party!

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

29. The majority of Dems voted against the IWR.

Fun fact.

[Bonn1997]

32. In the House, yes. In the Senate, no.

But the American people are not gonna be that nit-picky. All they'll remember is that Obama stood up to many in his party on the biggest issue of our lifetime.

[Thorandmjolnir]

31. Here is the funny thing.

When McCain says he has stood up to his own party, he really means he has sided with the Democratic Party on key issues. Or in other words, the Democrats were right, in McCain's opinion. Why would Obama be against that?

Why is it a quality to be against your own party, if you agree with it?

I am sure Obama has disagreed with the majority of his own party on certain issues, but I cannot see how this is an issue of any relevance in this election.

[EC]

33. Why should he stand up to his own party when his own

party has been right? Isn't more about standing up for right instead of wrong? He's worked across party lines trying to convert the wrong headiness of the repub party...trying to show THEM the light...his party already sees the light...

[johnaries]

34. Because the Dems aren't the problem. He hasn't NEEDED to.

It's the Republicans that are screwing the country, not the Dems.