Naomi Wolf, cofounder of the American Freedom Pledge program, has now added Barack Obama to the list of candidates who have pledged to restore the Constitution immediately upon being elected President. The pledge includes this statement:
We are Americans, and in our America we do not torture, we do not imprison people without charge or legal remedy, we do not tap people’s phones and emails without a court order, and above all we do not give any President unchecked power. I pledge to fight to protect and defend the Constitution from attack by any President.
That’s it…pretty straight forward. A commitment to restore the things that Bush/Cheney have taken away from our country and its citizens.
So far, every Democratic candidate has now signed it or made supportive statements about it (Edwards and Biden) except Hillary Clinton.
Hillary joins the Republican candidates who have not signed or supported the pledge (Ron Paul has signed a similar, conservatives’ American Freedom Agenda to restore the Constitution).
Wolf’s comment:
We will not be satisfied until we receive a solid commitment from each and every one of the presidential candidates. This is not just another request from an interest group; this is a test of whether our next president will be true to the vision of our Founders. Any candidate who does not express strong support for defending the Constitution does not deserve to be president.
And it appears that she means it.
Update:
ABC News’ Rick Klein Reports [UPDATED 4:15 pm ET]: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has endorsed the principles of an anti-torture pledge circulated by a liberal organization, after facing criticism as the only Democratic candidate for president to withhold her support for a blanket statement condemning torture.
Clinton responded to the group sponsoring the pledge shortly after ABC News reported that she had declined to do so, though the campaign said the letter was being prepared before ABC made its inquiries.
Under The lobsterScope