Obama’s celebrated 2002 speech, in which he called Iraq a “dumb war” and warned that it would destabilize the Middle East and fan the flames of terrorism, was a key reason antiwar Democrats rallied to his side during the primary season. But in the Senate Obama avoided engaging on behalf of the Out of Iraq Caucus in Congress, and he deliberately avoided taking a leadership role. “Obama and his staff weren’t very responsive, and on Iraq and Iran they weren’t leaders,” says Paul Kawika Martin of Peace Action. “He didn’t introduce legislation, and they weren’t the ones on the floor pushing senators, pushing [majority leader Harry] Reid.” When antiwar members of the House reached out to the Senate, Obama demurred. “In that very critical period from January to mid-April 2007, when we were trying to reduce funding for the war, he was very hard to pin down,” says a veteran House staffer. ~Robert Dreyfuss

That must have been an example of his prudent pre-primary adjustment.  But, hey, he gave a speech once, and McCain is worse, so let’s just pretend we don’t know any of this.