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Obama: I need to earn troops' trust
No kidding. Long interview in Military Times.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama knows that to win the vote of current and former military members and their families, he has to prove himself. 'Precisely because I have not served in uniform, I am somebody who strongly believes I have to earn the trust of men and women in uniform,' Obama said in a July 2 interview with Military Times as he contrasted his lack of service with that of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, a Navy retiree and Vietnam veteran who has years of experience in Congress working on national security issues.

'I do not presume that from the day I am sworn in, every single service man or woman suddenly says, 'This guy knows what he is doing,'' said Obama, a freshman U.S. senator from Illinois, in his most extensive interview to date on a wide range of military issues.

Earning trust, he said, means listening to advice from military people, including top uniformed leaders, combatant commanders and senior noncommissioned officers and petty officers. It also means standing up for the military on critical issues and keeping promises, Obama said. Obama said he hopes the military community will see him as 'a guy looking out for us and not someone trying to score cheap political points.'
Posted by: Steve White 2008-07-08
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=243654