AP falsely claimed Obama has "delivered no policy speeches" on campaign trail

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http://mediamatters.org/items/200703270004

Summary: A March 27 Associated Press article falsely claimed that Sen. Barack Obama has "delivered no policy speeches" while campaigning "and provided few details about how he would lead the country." In fact, the Chicago Tribune described a March 2 address by Obama as a "major policy speech on U.S.-Israel policy," and numerous news outlets have reported on Obama's policy proposals on the campaign trail.

A March 27 Associated Press article -- headlined "Is Obama All Style and Little Substance?" -- falsely claimed that Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) has "delivered no policy speeches" while campaigning "and provided few details about how he would lead the country." In fact, on March 2, Obama delivered what the Chicago Tribune described as a "major policy speech on U.S.-Israel policy," and news reports indicate that in campaign speeches across the country, Obama has offered policy proposals on Iraq, education, the environment, energy, and health care.

Moreover, the article itself undermined Pickler's claim. The third to last paragraph of the article noted that during the campaign: "Obama has offered a plan to get troops out of Iraq, beginning with a drawdown in May that would extended through a March 2008 goal of redeploying all combat troops. The plan is unlikely to become reality with Bush in office, but is what Obama says he would do if he were in the Oval Office today." Indeed, Obama even mentioned his Iraq plan during his February 10 address announcing his candidacy.

Contrary to Pickler's assertion that Obama has "delivered no policy speeches," on March 2 he delivered a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in which Obama offered specific policy proposals for dealing with Iraq and the Middle East. In the speech, Obama asserted that the Iraq "war has fueled terrorism and helped galvanize terrorist organizations. And it has made the world less safe." Continuing, Obama detailed his proposal for ending the war in Iraq: