Obama goes left
"On Capitol Hill, another prominent Democratic senator has allied himself with the left-wing activist group MoveOn.org, even as some centrists in the party have reportedly urged Democrats to distance themselves from the organization," Byron York writes at National Review Online (www.nationalreview.com).
"On Tuesday, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama joined an effort by MoveOn's political-action committee to raise campaign funds for West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd, who faces re-election in 2006. In a letter to MoveOn members, Obama praised MoveOn's efforts, saying, 'You and millions of others, working through MoveOn, have helped change the way politics works in this country.'
"Obama's letter comes two weeks after MoveOn sponsored a rally in Washington to support Democratic filibusters of President Bush's judicial nominees. That rally was the idea of Byrd, who got in touch with MoveOn to organize the event. In addition to Byrd, it was attended by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and fellow Democratic senators Hillary Rodham Clinton, Edward M. Kennedy, Charles Schumer, Barbara Boxer, Patrick Leahy and Richard Durbin," Mr. York said.
"The alliance with Obama, combined with the turnout of top Democrats at the filibuster rally, is yet another indicator of MoveOn's growing presence on Capitol Hill. It also shows a strong alliance with Byrd, the 87-year-old senator who has taken the lead in the Democratic effort to justify the judicial filibusters."
The Obama letter "comes at a time when some centrist Democrats have expressed concerns that the party has become too identified with its most vocal elements on the left, including MoveOn," Mr. York said. |
