OBAMA ON THE RECORD

Candidate Barack Obama frequently promises to soar above partisan
politics. But the theatrics of such declarations keep bumping into the
reality of Mr. Obama's left-liberal record in Washington and the
left-liberal record in Illinois state politics which preceded it. The
latest reminder: As recently as 2004, Mr. Obama supported decriminalizing
marijuana, opening relations with Communist Cuba and providing health
care for illegal aliens.

In a little-noticed 2004 video featured today in The Washington Times, Mr.
Obama sounds quite comfortable voicing his leftist leanings. "I think we
need to rethink and decriminalize our marijuana laws," Mr. Obama told a
Northwestern University audience as he campaigned for the Senate in 2004.
"But I'm not somebody who believes in legalization of marijuana." Fast
forward to the fall of 2007, and Mr. Obama can be found hedging these
views -- meekly raising his hand at a Democratic presidential debate to
oppose decriminalization. Wrongly, it turns out. Mr. Obama still supports
it, according to a spokesman.

It is not just marijuana, relations with Cuba or health care for illegals.
Mr. Obama is also one of the most pro-choice presidential contenders in
history. His 100 percent rating from the Illinois Planned
Parenthood Council as a state senator was just the beginning. Mr. Obama
is known in pro-life circles for arguing cold-bloodedly on the Illinois
Senate floor that babies who survive botched late-term abortions should
not be considered "persons" because this would be tantamount to admitting
"that they are persons that are entitled to the kinds of protections that
would be provided to a -- a child, a 9-month old -- child that was
delivered to term." This should horrify the two-fifths of Americans who
consider themselves pro-life. It surely won't "unify."

Let's be realistic. Mr. Obama scores a 95 percent in the liberal activist
group Americans for Democratic Action's ratings. He scores in the single
digits when judged by conservative groups.

To be sure, Mr. Obama's personal story inspires, even unifies. But it
would take much more to govern in unity. As a conventional left-liberal,
Mr. Obama would be perhaps marginally likelier than John Kerry or
Ted Kennedy to unify America. Indeed, much as the notion of Mr. Obama as
the grand unifying force of the 2008 presidential election owes to the
man's personal attributes, it is remarkable how often one hears "unifier"
given how weak this case is on the policy merits. Indeed, the mirror
opposite is true.