Had he been a US Senator in 2002, would Obama had voted for the Iraq War?

[Psychic Octopus]

It's often said that Obama opposed the Iraq War from the beginning. It gave him a big boost in the 2008 primaries, as both Edwards and HRC supported it. However, had he been in the Senate at the time, do you think he would have held the same position? Obama is a highly ambitious man. It seems that every Senate Democrat who aspired to President voted for the Iraq War (with the possible exception of Wellstone, who had thought about the matter. Feingold probably didn't harbor any sort of national ambition, either). You've got Biden, Dodd, Edwards, Kerry, HRC, and a whole lot of others who were in favor of it.

The people who opposed it at the time were mainly members of the Progressive Caucus who seemed content serving their districts. I would bet that Obama would vote for it, based on his current administration's international policies, and the fact that he would have traveled in different circles. It was politically expedient for Obama to oppose it in 2002, as he aspired to use the grassroots to gain greater national prominence. If Obama was in the Senate, voting against the conventional wisdom of the time would have been a politically dangerous move.

[This user has not been convicted of 34 felonies]

Absolutely (R)

[dead0man]

One has to assume so.

[bgwah]

Lean no. The Democrats who were up for re-election that year almost all voted for it (IIRC, Wellstone was the only exception, and he died right before the election), while most who voted against weren't up for re-election until 2004 and 2006. So if he had the same seat and had just been elected in 1998, I say no. But if he had Durbin's seat, then maybe.

[Maxwell]

Obama has been pretty neo-con as president, so yes, but then again, its whatever his constituents want to hear, so who knows?

[Sasquatch]

Absolutely.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Absolutely.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

The war was unpopular, so why would he?

[AkSaber]

Absolutely.

Yup. Liberals love war just as much as conservatives.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

The war was unpopular, so why would he?

The war wasn't unpopular in 2002.

[Banjo Broski]

He would vote Yes because he is a war monger and a socialist zionist pupet of the israeli neo conservative marxist government.

[Simfan34]

He would vote Yes because he is a war monger and a socialist zionist pupet of the israeli neo conservative marxist government.

The far right: like the far left, without all the grandiloquence and proper grammar.