Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama has been very clear about what his message is -- hope, change and optimism. That's all very nice, but for a lot of us, it doesn't tell us what we want to know: where does he stand on issues and what does he propose to do about them if elected President? What's his voting record?

Enter Eriposte at Left Coaster. He's done an incredible analysis by assembling Obama's past statements and voting records on 13 issues.

His objective was to find out if Obama is a triangulator (and, he finds, he is) but it's also very revealing about where he stands on issues and whether he will follow through.

First, what's a triangulator? Wikipedia says:

Triangulation is the act of a candidate presenting his or her ideology as being "above" and "between" the left and right sides of the political spectrum. It involves adopting for oneself some of the ideas of one's political opponent. The logic behind it is that it not only takes good ideas away from your opponent, but that it insulates you from attacks on that particular issue. It is a tactic commonly used in third way politics.

While Eriposte was out to see if Obama was a bigger triangulator than Hillary (turns out, he is) his findings are very instructive on where Obama stands on issues, and whether he's been forthright in the campaign about his stances.

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