The Washington Post and The National Journal feature interviews with Barack Obama which include his views on the other major candidates. There’s still far less specifics than I would like on the issues, but a comparison between candidates of any type is far better than the usual horse race articles. I bet that the comments on Clinton will receive most of the coverage but I also found the interviews significant for his comments on Edwards. John Edwards often gets a free ride on his limited experience, which is far less than Obama’s, and for the considerable change in his positions compared to when he last ran for president. Obama responded to recent attacks from Edwards:
Edwards, who has staked his candidacy on winning the Iowa caucuses, has turned his attention to Obama recently, arguing that the Illinois senator would be too willing to compromise with special interests as president. The former North Carolina senator has said the next president must be willing to fight those interests.
Obama suggested Edwards had reconstituted himself since his last campaign. “John wasn’t this raging populist four years ago when he ran” for the previous Democratic nomination, he said. “He certainly wasn’t when he ran for the U.S. Senate. He was in the U.S. Senate for six years, and as far as I can tell wasn’t taking on the lobbyists and special interests. It’s a matter of, do you walk the walk that you talk?”
Obama also said he stacks up favorably against Edwards when their earlier records are compared. “Let me put it this way,” he said. “If John wants to make the comparison between the work I did as a community organizer — or as a civil rights attorney or as a state senator taking on special interests — to him working as a trial lawyer making millions of dollars, I’m happy to have that discussion.”
