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Anti-war group supports Obama

— Photo: AFP

RALLYING SUPPORT: U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama at a rally in Santa Fe on Friday.

LOS ANGELES: Barack Obama picked up the endorsement of a leading anti-war group on Friday and said Democratic presidential rival Hillary Rodham Clinton still has not adequately explained her vote to go into Iraq.

Mr. Obama told reporters in a news conference that, though Ms. Clinton explains how she would like to end the war, her explanation for her vote leading into the war is disingenuous. He said his opposition against the war from the start will make him the stronger rival to Republican front-runner and war backer John McCain in the general election.

Mr. Obama’s long-standing opposition to the war helped him pick up the backing of MoveOn.org, a liberal network which counts 3.2 million members and decided to back him by a vote of 70 per cent to 30 per cent for Ms. Clinton. The group said it had 1.7 million members in the 22 states scheduled to vote in the race on Tuesday, and it would immediately begin a campaign to get them behind Mr. Obama.

Mr. Obama also picked up the support of a large union in California which had been backing rival John Edwards, who dropped out of the race this week.

MoveOn.org executive director Eli Pariser said the country needed a President to end the war, provide universal health care, address climate change, restore America’s standing in the world and “change business as usual in Washington.” In his statement, Pariser thanked all the other candidates who ran in the Democratic primary for their contributions to the race.

Mr. Obama criticised Ms. Clinton’s answer during a debate on Thursday night when she was asked why she voted against a 2003 amendment offered by Democratic Sen. Carl Levin. The amendment would have given weapons inspectors more time in Iraq and required President George W. Bush to first obtain U.N. approval before using force.

Ms. Clinton argued that a vote for the Levin amendment would have subordinated U.S. authority in Iraq to the U.N. Security Council and called it a troublesome precedent. — AP

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