[mikester]

I don't think that he was saying that he'd necessarily be in favor of a draft. I think what he was getting at was that an Obama administration would have taken a different approach to this war or any war. The current administration essentially told the public that, aside from the small percentage of Americans actually fighting, the rest of us should just go about business as usual. Bush actually told us to "go shopping". That's a pretty extraordinary thing to say, especially when people, at that time, were so moved by the terrible attacks on 9/11 that they were mobilized and unified, to do something if asked. During prior major wars our leaders asked the public to sacrifice as part of the war effort, in the form of rationing of strategic resources, buying war bonds, and so on.

So I think that Barack Obama was saying that his administration would be different. As far as your direct question, I think that based on his performance in running his campaign, he would rely on a carefully selected group of military experts to advise him on whether or not a draft was necessary. I think that at this time, the consensus among experts is that a draft is not necessary.