Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee for President.

Notable Policies

• On Iraq: Since the beginning of his campaign for the presidency, Obama has advocated a timetable for troop withdrawal from Iraq. He has committed to a withdrawal that would finish within 16 months, pending any changes on the ground or advice from commanders in Iraq. Obama's stance drew criticism from Republicans as naive and not reflecting reality; John McCain and President Bush were particularly vocal critics. However, Obama has been vindicated, as the Bush administration quietly changed its stance recently to advocate a "withdrawal horizon", and Prime Minister Maliki of Iraq explicitly stated that Obama's timetable was feasible and even preferable to the Iraqi government.
  
• On Afghanistan: Obama has advocated redeploying military forces to Afghanistan to root out the remnants of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Further, he took the controversial stance that he would send strike teams into Pakistan to engage Al Qaeda and Taliban forces if Pakistani forces were unwilling or unable to do so. Again, Obama was derided for naivete and lack of perspective, only to be vindicated by a military operation that sent an unmanned attack drone into Pakistan to eliminate an Al Qaeda target without the consent of the Pakistani government.
  

Misstatements

Position Changes

• On the surge: Initially an opponent of the surge, Obama has since acknowledged that the surge has helped quell violence in Iraq. However, he remains unconvinced that the surge has worked as it was intended, since only 3 of 15 objectives outlined in the planning for the surge have been met.
  
• On FISA: Despite initially vowing to support a filibuster of any FISA bill that contained retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies, Obama expressed his support for a House bill that included such immunity, citing the urgency of an updated intelligence bill and his plan to work to get the immunity provision stripped from the bill. Obama's move to do so failed, and he voted for the bill anyway. The MSM subsequently made much hay about his running to the center and "flip-flopping".
  

Controversies