Obama stresses anti-war stance - Volunteers circulate petition while in New Hampshire

Obama stresses anti-war stance - Volunteers circulate petition while in New Hampshire
By Christi Parsons
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
Published May 20, 2007

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- The volunteers were wearing Barack Obama buttons and handing out literature about the Democratic candidate for president, but the explicit message the canvassers were peddling Saturday as they went door to door here was about ending the war in Iraq.

First, they asked that voters sign a petition to end the war, specifically calling on their U.S. senators to part ways with the president and move for the withdrawal of troops.

Only after that did they hand out fliers promoting Obama, whom some volunteers went on to describe as the strongest anti-war candidate in the Democratic field -- a mantle the other candidates aren't ready to concede.

Obama has taken his war opposition to a new level in recent days, launching what some are calling his "16 votes" campaign urging that number of senators to vote to override President Bush's recent veto of a bill to redeploy troops.

But over the weekend, Obama's anti-war message fused so much with his presidential campaign that it was hard to differentiate the two.

Some voters were confused by the approach.

"I signed a petition against the war," one Manchester woman said after a volunteer left her home. "I don't know anything about Barack Obama. I don't want to get into all of that."

For more than a week, Obama has been calling out senators -- not by name, but by implication -- when he campaigns in their states. Until Saturday, he had pointed the finger only at Republican lawmakers.

But on Saturday night he attended a private fundraiser in Connecticut, home state of Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the former Democratic nominee for vice president, who voted with Republicans on the withdrawal measure. The event was closed to the press but a campaign aide said that Obama repeated his message about the need to override the president's veto and encouraged people to contact their senators and representatives.

As he spoke to supporters Saturday morning, Obama exhorted them to spread his message about ending the war. The volunteers' targets: Democratic-leaning voters whose participation in New Hampshire's early primary is crucial to selecting the party's nominee.

People are tired of the way Washington is handling U.S. policy in Iraq, Obama told the crowd.

"When they see our senators and our congressmen aren't willing to say 'No' to the president, then people are inspired to say to our congressmen and our senators, 'It is time for you to step up. And if you won't step up, we will step up.' "

Obama's speech in a steady rain was something of a pep talk for about 550 volunteers who showed up to participate in Obama's first door-to-door canvass. Volunteers visited the homes of Democratic-leaning voters in six New Hampshire cities, a precursor to a countrywide effort in June.

Afterward, Obama spoke at the commencement of Southern New Hampshire University, where he quoted a letter from Paul, the Christian apostle, to the church in Corinth:

"When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Now that I have become a man, I have put away childish things."

But growing up is more than just a function of age, Obama said.

"I know a whole lot of 30- and 40- and 50-year-olds who have not yet put away childish things ... . We see it in a politics that's become more concerned about who's up and who's down than who's working to solve the real challenges facing our generation," he said

"[It's] a politics where debates over war and peace are reduced to 60-second sound bytes and 30-second attack ads."

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cparsons@tribune.com