Endorsement ignores Obama's record

The Oct. 20 Chronicle Editorial Board endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama was so filled with empty bromides, I wondered if it were written by the man himself.

Although The Chronicle Editorial Board obfuscates the issue, Americans face a simple choice in this election. Obama is a political opportunist and career leftist, who has amassed the Senate's most liberal voting record (according to the nonpartisan National Journal), and passed no serious, notable legislation. In contrast, Sen. John McCain is a career public servant who always puts country before party and self, who has earned a long record of bipartisan reform, and ignored what's popular to do what's right.

You can make arguments to support Obama if you are (very) liberal, but "character" and dedication to "honesty over convenience" are not among them. Let's review. To win his first election to Illinois State Senate, Obama manipulated loopholes in election law to disqualify his political mentor, then-incumbent Alice Palmer, from the ballot so he could run unopposed. To try to win the presidential election, Obama has thrown long-time personal acquaintances Reverend Jeremiah Wright and corrupt businessman Tony Rezko, among many others, under the bus-after others noted his terrible judgment in befriending them.

Obama's policy positions reek of the same-dare I say Clintonian?-political calculation. He opposed the Iraq War as the state senator for the ultra-liberal, anti-war Hyde Park district in Chicago-in other words, under political pressure to oppose it. (His ongoing refusal to acknowledge the surge's success in Iraq reveals his devotion to anti-war interest groups.) On energy policy, he has not seriously committed to nuclear energy and increased domestic oil production, both critical ingredients of a comprehensive strategy, to avoid infuriating left-wing interest groups. Moreover, in a brazen flip-flop, Obama broke his promise to receive public financing when it proved inconvenient to his general election campaign.

Yet the Board expects its readers to buy into Obama as a national savior who will resolve our great national crises because we truly hope he can.

If the Board wants to support Obama because he is the most liberal presidential candidate in a generation, then it should just say so. But for any moderate voter, the only sensible choice is McCain. He is a Senate coalition-builder and an independent voice, as the record shows. McCain is a candidate for the whole country-not just ultra-liberals and left-wing interest groups.

Vikram Srinivasan

Chair, Duke College Republicans