IVI-IPO officials suggest Obama is lying about his questionnaire

[Karmadillo]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-7173018,00.html

Obama's Views Have Changed With Time

Saturday December 22, 2007 2:46 PM
By CHRISTOPHER WILLS
Associated Press Writer

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Obama's presidential campaign contends that voters can't learn anything about his views from the 1996 questionnaire, which was for an Illinois good-government group known as the IVI-IPO. Aides say Obama did not fill out the questionnaire and instead it was handled by a staffer who misrepresented his views on gun control, the death penalty and more.

``Barack Obama has a consistent record on the key issues facing our country,'' said spokesman Ben LaBolt. ``Even conservative columnists have said they'd scoured Obama's record for inconsistencies and found there were virtually none.''

IVI-IPO officials say it's inconceivable that Obama would have let a staffer turn in a questionnaire with incorrect answers. The group interviewed Obama in person about his answers before endorsing him in that 1996 legislative race, and he didn't suggest then, or anytime since, that the questionnaire needed to be corrected, they said.

Since he came to Washington, one piece of legislation that raises questions is the USA Patriot Act, the security measure approved after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

When he ran for the Senate, Obama called the act a ``shoddy and dangerous law'' that should be replaced. After he took office, the Senate considered an update that Obama criticized as only a modest improvement and one that was inferior to other alternatives.

Still, Obama ended up voting for that renewal and update of the Patriot Act.