Oklahoma Congressman Dan Boren describes Barack Obama as the country's "most liberal senator." And so, though Boren is a Democrat, he has no plans to endorse Obama for President. "We're much more conservative" in eastern Oklahoma, Boren said. "I've got to reflect my district."Obama's extreme liberalism poses problems for other Democrats in conservative areas as this AP story describes.
So why did Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson jump early on the Obama bandwagon? He obviously knows Obama's remarkably leftist record on economics, on defense, on abortion and other social issues. In a brazen bow to partisan politics over principles (perhaps principles that Senator Nelson only claims to hold), he touts Obama's personality, freshness and rhetoric while ignoring Obama's actual record. And that record, if expanded to become U.S. policy, will be a disaster.
For Ben Nelson to endorse Barack Obama proves that being a loyal Democrat is more important to him than representing the opinions of Nebraskans, more important than his publicized "moderate" credentials, more important than being a responsible public servant.
