<http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0307/ Obamas_Shift_on_War_Funding.html>
In a conference call today (for Iowa and New Hampshire reporters only, grumble grumble), Obama made the case that he hasn't moved on the war.
"Once we were in, we were going to have some responsibility to try to make it work as best we can. More importantly, you make sure the troops are supported," the AP quotes him as saying, echoing a line he's been using since soon after he entered the Senate.
But while he's clearly been a war opponent, it seems equally clear that during his first year-and-a-half in the Senate he didn't have the kind of anti-war fervor he'd displayed either on the campaign trail, or since he began running for president.
That video is from his November 16, 2003 appearance at the New Trier Democratic Organization, in which he says that he "unequivocally" would have voted against the famous $87 billion Iraq appropriation. (It was provided on the condition of anonymity.)
"Just this week, when I was asked, would I have voted for the $87 billion dollars, I said 'no.' I said no unequivocally because, at a certain point, we have to say no to George Bush. If we keep on getting steamrolled, we are not going to stand a chance," he said.
Since he was elected, by my count, he's voted in favor of five other appropriations.
An Obama aide sent over a quote from the Hyde Park Citizen that suggested his opposition to the $87 billion hinged on a distinction between money for the troops and $20 billion included for reconstruction, and said the subsequent appropriations he voted for didn't include that scale of reconstruction money. (By this argument, Obama opposes wasting the money on reconstruction, but wants to fund the military.) That's a distinction Obama sometimes made in that campaign, though not during the appearance from which the clip above was taken.
Here's one 2003 report:
"Obama said he would put more money toward the troops, but not rebuilding Iraq. 'We need to make sure that every dollar that is spent in Iraq is spent at home,' he said. 'We could have had our allies paying for there building process and contributing to the troops.'"