McCain the travel agent? Obama the verb watchdog?
WASHINGTON _ A few minutes ago, John McCain’s “ecampaign” sent out a message that began thusly: “It has been 873 days since Sen. Obama’s one and only visit to Iraq.”
Tonight, Barack Obama planned to recall to an audience these words uttered yesterday by McCain: “We have drawn down to pre-surge levels” in Iraq.
There’s something to both statements: Obama, unlike many senators, has not traveled to Iraq for a considerable period of time time even though he has based his campaign heavily on his opposition to the Iraq war.
And McCain’s assertion yesterday was flat-out wrong: The current troop level in Iraq is about 155,000, way beyond the 130,000 during pre-surge levels.”
Some points here: Obama, obviously, has been pinned down by Hillary Clinton and has yet to lock down the Democratic nomination. Would it have been politically wise while campaigning over the past 17 months or so to pick up and leave a red-hot race? Maybe. Maybe not.
Meanwhile, could McCain — who has been to Iraq five times since Obama’s trip — not know what’s going on there troop-wise? His aides contended today that the Arizona senator simply was off in his verb tenses, and meant to say that “we are drawing down” rather than “we have drawn down.”
Both campaigns are on the attack, be it on travel or verb tense. McCain has proposed a joint trip with Obama to Iraq, which Obama rejected (wisely, it would seem) as a political stunt.
“While he (Obama) is happy to hold unconditional presidential meetings with the world’s worst dictators, he has yet to meet with Gen. Petraeus about the improving conditions in Iraq,” the McCain campaign said a little while ago after accusing Obama today of “nitpicking” about verbs.
Meanwhile, Obama planned to use these words tonight in Montana: “Today, Sen. McCain refused to correct his mistake. Just like George Bush, when he was presented with the truth, he just dug in and refused to admit his mistake.”
This is the sort of give-and-take we can expect to hear in the coming months. But a larger question presents itself with regard to tactics of the Democrats’ nominee-in-waiting:
Is Obama falling into a trap by attempting to compete with McCain on national security – an issue on which McCain holds much better credentials?
Is Illinois’ junior senator a tad hasty in his effort to avoid being defined by McCain or, in the vernacular of the day, getting “swiftboated” by his opponents? Might he be better off focusing on the economy and issues more favorable to him?
Stay tuned.



Whoa. As confused as the poor ol’ guy is now, makes you wonder what he’ll be like at the end of his term when he is 76 years old.