Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., listens to a question as he speaks to a large gathering of mostly union members Monday, May 14, 2007 in Trenton, N.J. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
Posted on 05/18/2007 7:48:18 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
RYE, N.H. - Presidential hopeful Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) opened a two-day offensive against Republican Sens. John Sununu (news, bio, voting record) and Judd Gregg (news, bio, voting record), telling New Hampshire voters on Friday their senators should do more to end the war.
Obama, an Illinois Democrat, told a town hall audience in Rye that Sununu, Gregg and 14 other Republican senators are the main roadblocks to ending the unpopular war in Iraq. Obama backs a plan that would give the Democratic-controlled Congress more control over the war's finances and begin a troop redeployment before President Bush leaves office.
"We are 16 votes short from bringing this war to a close," Obama said. "One of the things that everybody has to do is to help generate those 16 votes. You've got a couple of senators here in New Hampshire."
Although Obama did not name the senators, some in the audience hissed and groaned.
"They need to recognize that our troops have performed valiantly, but it is now time for them to come home," Obama said.
Sununu is up for re-election in 2008 and a top target of Democrats. Spokeswomen for Sununu and Gregg did not immediately respond to messages seeking responses on Friday evening.
Obama also targeted Gregg and Sununu during a town hall meeting in Nashua last month. The criticism will be part of Saturday's statewide canvass. While knocking on voters' doors, volunteers will circulate a petition that asks Sununu and Gregg to change their vote and support a war-ending measure.
"The only way we're going to make that happen is by having people speaking out — speaking out vigorously and forcefully," Obama said.
It's not the first time Obama has criticized a Republican Senate colleague. Earlier this month, he took a shot at Iowa's Sen. Charles Grassley (news, bio, voting record) in his home state.
"I respect him greatly," Obama told an audience at Indianaloa's Simpson College. "But I said then and I say now that he needs to hear from you and people across Iowa who understand that it's time to change course."
Obama has made his opposition to the war in Iraq a central tenet of his campaign. He faced criticism after those comments, including from Grassley.
Later Friday evening, Obama was scheduled to address a group of New Hampshire lawyers. Reporters were not allowed inside, and the New Hampshire Trial Lawyers Association refused to sell tickets to a reporter.
Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., listens to a question as he speaks to a large gathering of mostly union members Monday, May 14, 2007 in Trenton, N.J. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
Blue-Lipped-Sack-of-Sh!t!
Can’t this candidate figure out that he’s giving Congress the authority to stop him if he ever becomes President? Which isn’t going to happen.
Senator John Sununu is not polling strongly, and this may be Obama’s attempt to help his party win a Senate race.
Barack Hussein Obama is showing his genetic Islamic upbringing, which appears to be out voting his Halfri-American genes.....
Modern Democrats NEVER miss an opportunity to support going to war, only to support quiting and surrendering once it is started...
If they refuse,or fail,they're gone.
One of those sorry-a**ed volunteers knocks on my door tomorrow, I'll rip him a new one. (Rain predicted for all afternoon tomorrow here in NH, may keep turnout low.)
“They need to recognize that our troops have performed valiantly, but it is now time for them to come home,” Obama said.
I wonder if anyone has ever grilled him on this?
/really REALLY stupid question. I don’t know what possessed to ask such a sillly question.
If he can sucker them into going RINO, they'll lose support on the right as well as the left. I'm betting that's the strategy.
Exactly. And first important step for them would be to treat Obama and the rest of "hopefuls" as clowns they are.
It’s truly sad to see what’s happened here in NH over the past ten years. So many refugees from the People’s Republic of Massachusetts have moved up for cheaper housing and, by the weight of their sheer numbers, they’ve transformed this once ardently conservative state into one that elected a socialist moonbat to Congress last time around.
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