Obama Is Developing a Disturbing Pattern...

The Presidential campaign of Barack Obama again appears to be engaging in disappointing behavior. In recent weeks we've witnessed a disturbing pattern of Obama initially coming out with a statement denying knowledge of a particularly divisive issue, then being forced later to acknowledge that his original statement wasn't quite true.

Let's take a look at a few recent incidents. Barack Obama had claimed for years that Tony Rezko, his indicted political mentor from Chicago, did limited fund-raising for his campaigns. Two weeks ago, Barack Obama had to come out and say that he was mistaken, and that Rezko had actually raised more than $250k for him. In another instance, Obama very publicly claimed that he was never present to hear any of the more provocative statements made by his spiritual adviser and pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Then, in his media hailed speech on race two weeks ago, Obama admitted that he was present at church and heard some things being said by Wright that disturbed the candidate greatly. Last week Obama modified that stance even further, claiming to the ladies on The View that he would have left his church because of Wright's statements and views, had the pastor not retired first.

Now the Politico is reporting on another instance where Obama initially claimed no knowledge of a particularly inflammatory bit of information that could be damaging to his campaign. Will he have to come out once again and say that he was initially mistaken?

Last December, the Politico reported that when he first ran for public office in 1996, Barack Obama laid out some very liberal positions in a questionnaire from an Illinois voter group. As that information resurfaced, Obama claimed ignorance - stating that the forms must have been filled out without authorization by a campaign aide.

When Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) was seeking state office a dozen years ago, he took unabashedly liberal positions: flatly opposed to capital punishment, in support of a federal single-payer health plan, against any restrictions on abortion, and in support of state laws to ban the manufacture, sale and even possession of handguns.

...A week after Politico provided the questionnaire to the Obama campaign for comment, an aide called Monday night to say that Obama had said he did not fill out the form, and provided a contact for his campaign manager at the time, who said she filled it out. It includes first-person comments such as: “I have not previously been a candidate.”

Following that story, the Politico reported that the campaign went even further in their denial of Obama's responsibility in filling out the questionnaire, claiming that whoever filled it out had mischaracterized Obama's positions at the time.

Aides to Barack Obama last week disavowed a 1996 questionnaire from a liberal Chicago group in which he appeared to take positions well to the left of his current stances on hot-button issues, telling Politico a staff member had filled it out incorrectly.

As we've unfortunately learned from the past few months, that position by Obama was bound to 'evolve'. And so we have another article from this morning's Politico, Obama had greater role on liberal survey.

But a Politico examination determined that Obama was actually interviewed about the issues on the questionnaire by the liberal Chicago non-profit group that issued it. And it found that Obama – the day after sitting for the interview – filed an amended version of the questionnaire, which appears to contain Obama’s own handwritten notes adding to one answer.

The two questionnaires, provided to Politico with assistance from political sources opposed to Obama’s presidential campaign, were later supplied directly from the group, Independent Voters of Illinois – Independent Precinct Organization. Obama and his then-campaign manager, who Obama’s campaign asserts filled out the questionnaires, were familiar with the group, its members and positions, since both were active in it before his 1996 state Senate run.

Through an aide, Obama, who won the group’s endorsement as well as the statehouse seat, did not dispute that the handwriting was his. But he contended it doesn’t prove he completed, approved – or even read – the latter questionnaire.

For the time being, the Obama campaign is sticking to their story that someone else filled out the questionnaire with positions that were not the candidates' own. Which means that the press will dig even deeper, much to the campaign's chagrin. If the previous incidents offer any indication, Obama will be forced to release some sort of a statement saying that those were his positions at the time, but are not now.

Changing one's positions over the course of a dozen years is not necessarily a problem. Politicians are people, and their views evolve on some issues, just like everyone else's. The problem with Obama, therefore, is not his changing positions or answers, but the fact that he has to come out and continually modify them. It's all about what Obama's first instincts are. Coupled with the candidate's Rezko and Wright issues, this shows the development of a very disturbing pattern, quite the opposite from Obama's claim that he is not just another politician.

Comments

[Iloqium]

The Obama pattern is quite simple......

Lie in public with the biggest audience, then recant / correct / change to a smaller auduence.

Debate - I hardly know Rezko - made it to the main stream media.

During Wright scandal - admitted to Chicago newspaper that he knew him, received at least 250K and did a walk through - did that make it to the main stream media? NO.