VoteVets.org, which calls itself “The Voice of America’s 21st Century Patriots,” is running a 30-second TV spot in selected markets that’s critical of Senator McCain’s position on Iraq. (The ad doesn’t specifically mention Barack Obama but guess whose position it endorses.)
Sound Bite: “When the Iraqi people and their prime minister ask us to make a plan to leave, we do. ut Senator McCain would occupy Iraq indefinitely, against their wishes.”
The New York Times rejected an op-ed piece submitted by Senator McCain in response to an op-ed piece by Barack Obama the paper published last week. Apparently the editorial page editor wanted more specifics from McCain on timetables, troop levels and such. More here. Senator McCain’s press secretary says the paper’s action is “unfortunate.”
The McCain campaign has released a 7-minute clip — “The Obama Iraq Documentary: Whatever the Politics Demand” — featuring a mixed bag of Barack Obama’s comments on Iraq issues: the troop surge, withdrawl timetable, war funding, etc. Message: He’s talks out of both sides of his mouth depending on the circumstances.
In a New Mexico town hall, McCain reads (without Telepromter and with more verve than usual) a speech pointing once more to his fundamental disagreements with Obama on military strategy.
Sound bite: “Flip-floppers all over the world are enraged.”
Sound bite: “Today we know he was wrong. The surge has succeeded… Our enemies are on the run.”
Sound bite on Afghanistan: “The status quo is not acceptable.”
Sound bite: “It is precisely the success of the surge in Iraq that shows us how to succeed in Afghanistan.”
Sound bite: “I know how to win wars.”
Sound bite: “You can have complete confidence that I will get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice.”
And here, to compare and contrast, is Obama’s half-hour speech on his plan for Iraq:
Americans and Iraqis are clamoring for “a timetable for withdrawl from Iraq,” according to latest MoveOn.org ad. Everyone wants a timetable, they say, except John McCain. (No mention of Obama’s 16-month timetable. Of course, that’s the campaign timetable. Think that will be the January 2009 timetable?)
John McCain (the old candidate) is “confused” and “all over the place” with his Iraq policy says John Kerry in an interview with Keith Olbermann. (He forgot to say he’s also got drool on his chin.)
General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker testified before the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees yesterday about the state of affairs in Iraq. The next president weighed in.
Here’s Barack Obama’s speech on the five-year anniversary of the Iraq War and its costs, on people, on strategy, and on the economy: “The price of oil is four times what it was before this war. You’re paying the price for this war.”
Hillary Clinton uses a BBC interview with former Obama foreign policy advisor Samantha (“Hillary’s a monster!”) Power to suggest that Obama’s stated position on withdrawing troops from Iraq is somewhat fluid — as opposed to her plan, which is apparently set in stone. (Hmmm, do you think that position might undergo some tinkering if she’s the nominee?)
Hillary Clinton made a speech on Iraq today: If she becomes president, the U.S. will “end this war as quickly and responsibly as possible.” And, oh yeah, that Obama guy is all talk. So, he made a speech - big deal: “He didn’t start working aggressively to end the war until he started running for president.” And not only that, he isn’t telling the truth now about his withdrawl plan.
Sound Bite: “The true test is not the speeches a president delivers, it whether the president delivers on the speeches.”
The Obama campaign responds by stringing together clips of Senator Clinton’s posiiton on Iraq now and back in the day.
And in a speech later today in Pennsylvania, Senator Obama says he’s been consistent in his opposition to the war, “unlike Senator Clinton who voted for this war and has never taken responsibility for that vote.”
On Fox News Representative Steve King (R-Iowa) stands by — and expands — his comments that if Barack Obama wins the presidency, radical Islamists and Al-Qaeda will be “dancing in the streets.”
Campaigning in Wyoming, Barack Obama says “It was because of George Bush, with an assist from Hillary Clinton and John McCain, that we entered into this war. A war that should’ve never been authorized, a war that should’ve never been waged . . . “
Sound Bite: “She doesn’t have standing to question my position on this issue.”
