Interesting news from the Iraqis:

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told a German magazine he supported prospective U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s proposal that U.S. troops should leave Iraq within 16 months.

In an interview with Der Spiegel released on Saturday, Maliki said he wanted U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq as soon as possible.

“U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes.”

It is the first time he has backed the withdrawal timetable put forward by Obama, who is visiting Afghanistan and us set to go to Iraq as part of a tour of Europe and the Middle East.

Obama has called for a shift away from a “single-minded” focus on Iraq and wants to pull out troops within 16 months, instead adding U.S. soldiers to Afghanistan.

Asked if he supported Obama’s ideas more than those of John McCain, Republican presidential hopeful, Maliki said he did not want to recommend who people should vote for.

“Whoever is thinking about the shorter term is closer to reality. Artificially extending the stay of U.S. troops would cause problems.”

From a purely political point of view, this helps Obama by giving legitimacy to his plans. Bush and McCain have always said that we would leave if the Iraqis asked them to stay.

It also isn’t a surprise. Malaki has been hinting at this for years, and he’s repeated it often in the last month. The Bush administration tried to negotiate long-term bases, but it’s becoming clearer that the Iraqis have different ideas.

As for what’s best for Iraq, nobody knows. Malaki is certainly trying to consolidate power, and by calling for a withdrawel be blunts some of the criticism coming from Sadr.

It’s certainly a positive development from the American point of view. We cannot maintain our presence there. It’s killing our economy, and it’s hurting the efforts in Afghanistan.

The McCain team has sent out info reminding the press that Evan Bayh was an honorary co-chair of the neocon pro-war Committee for the Liberation of Iraq. He co-chaired the group along with John McCain and Joe Lieberman.

Bayh’s Iraq vote was always going to be a negative, but this takes things a step further. The important thing is that he subsequently removed himself from the group and he now says he would not have supported the Iraq War knowing what he knows now.

I don’t think this kills his chances. He brings so much to the table from an experience and electoral point of view. Also, they can emphasize that many supporters of the war have acknowledged they made a mistake, while McCain still thinks it was the right thing to do.

It’s interesting that the McCain team put out this information now. They must be terrified by the prospect of an Obama/Bayh ticket. If Bayh helps Obama win Indiana, it’s hard to see how McCain has a chance.

Great stuff.

McCain has been saying since last year that he was against sending more US troops to Afghanistan, while Barack Obama was arguing we needed more troops there. His campaign was repeating that policy as recently as last week, but now he’s changed his position and is calling for more troops, mimicking the Obama policy. He even moved up his foreign policy speech by two days in an effort to trump Obama’s speech today.

The press is starting to pick up on this, and it will reinforce Obama’s point that Afghanistan and Al Qaeda need to be the focus of our counter-terrorism efforts.

Too funny.

This is a very logical and practical approach.

Several weeks ago, Newsweek had Obama up by 15 points. Compared to other polls, it seemed way off based. As expected, the next Newsweek poll shows a much tighter race at 3 points, which is more consistent with other national polls. Of couse, Newsweek wonders what happened over the last several weeks. This fits into their narrative that Obama’s appeal might be fading.

They might want to take a look at the methodology of their poll. The weighting between Democrats and Republicans over the two polls were very different, along with weighting for other democgraphic factors. Naturally, if you include more Republicans in the second poll, you will show a much different margin.

This is a tough year to conduct polls, as the breakdown between Democrats and Republicans is very hard to predict. That breakdown has a huge impact on polling results.

What’s strange is that Newsweek would release polls with very different weightings and then draw conclusions from the poll that don’t take these weightings into account. This is another example where blogs do a much better job of reporting facts than the mainstream media.

This is a great move, and as Jacob Heilbrunn explains, it’s a blow to McCain. Hagel is a veteran as well and aa Republican Senator who opposes the Bush administration policy in Iraq.

I’m curious to see who else joins Obama as it might signal potential VP picks. Biden seems like an obvious choice for the trip regardless of whether Obama is seriously considering him for the trip, but if Evan Bayh joins them, it increases the odds that he’s the pick.

Former Senator Phil Gramm is hilarious. He’s one of the true believers in the concept of deregulation, while he seems completely oblivious to the negative effects of many of our deregulation efforts, probably because the was behind many of them.

He’s now becoming famous for his claim that “we’re becoming a nation of whiners.” Now, we all know plenty of whiners, but this isn’t the best way to describe Americans when you’re an advisor to a presidential candidate. He’s also dead wrong about our economic situation. Things aren’t peachy. The economy has serious structural problems, and our major banks are in big trouble and are getting bailed out by Middle Eastern investors, the same people we’re making rich with our idiotic energy policies. In the meantime, ordinary Americans are getting squeezed. Foreclosures are going through the roof, and gas prices are slowing the economy.

Phil Gramm is a PR nightmare for McCain, but more importantly he is McCain’s cheif economic advisor. The Gramm/McCain policies would be a disaster for this country. So it’s poetic justice that Gramm’s stupidity and lame political skills are hurting McCain. I remeber when Gramm ran for president in 2006. He had by far the most money, but people hated him. He crashed and burned very quickly in Iowa.

McCain threw Gramm under the bus today, but he and Gramm have been friends for years and he has been a critical advisor. That connection will continue t be a problem for today.

Meanwhile, the video has surfaced of Gramm making his “whiner” statement. As Joe Sudbey points out, he’s so smug and condescending.

Evan Byah would be an excellent choice for Obama’s running mate.

The fact that the Obama campaign is willing to target Indiana tells me that Bayh might be the choice. The 11 electoral votes from Indiana would tip the election to Obama, if he won all the Kerry states and Iowa (where he has a solid lead). He wouldn’t even need Ohio or Florida. Having Bayh on the ticket could deliver the state. His midwestern roots would also help Obama in battleground states like Ohio and Wisconsin.

More importantly, Bayh bolsters the ticket in general terms. First, he’s clearly capable of being President on day one. He’s a former governor and a Senator. He also has significant foreign policy credentials, with his seats on the Armed Services and Intelligence committees. He’s a moderate with excellent credentials on taxes and economic policy. Finally, he looks like a President. He’s soft-spoken and boring at times, but he projects an image of quiet competence, which is a good balance to Obama’s electric campaign. He would help quiet the fears of those who worry Obama lacks experience. He’s not an old hand like Sam Nunn, but he’s still a heavyweight.

Obama needs a VP that reassures voters and doesn’t make mistakes. Bayh is a pro, and he did a good job as a surrogate for Hillary Clinton in the primaries.

Bayh’s credentials, along with the help he provides with the electoral map, make him the best choice in my opinion.

The McCain campaign continues to make blunders. McCain’s recent proposal to offer a $300 million prize for new battery technology is another gem from this inept campaign. Obama hits the softball out of the park.

“When John F. Kennedy decided that we were going to put a man on the moon, he didn’t put a bounty out for some rocket scientist to win — he put the full resources of the United States government behind the project and called on the ingenuity and innovation of the American people — not just in the private sector but also in the public sector.”

After running one of the most pathetic presidential campaigns in modern history (he paid $50 for one delegate), Rudy Giuliani is being trotted out as John McCain’s latest attack dog on national security. Here’s an example of why Rudy is so bad. Like McCain, he can’t keep his story straight.

We’re used to hearing brilliant speeches from Obama, and he doesn’t disappoint with today’s Father’s Day speech.

He returned to a familiar theme - the need for fathers to take responsibility for their children. Obama regularly delivers this message, and he makes a point to emphasize this in front of black audiences, as he acknowledges the serious problems in the black community regarding absentee fathers.

It’s a message of personal responsibility that liberals and conservatives can appreciate.

In accepting the Democratic nomination for the open Senate seat in Virginia, Mark Warner made it clear that he will not be in the running for Obama’s VP.

That’s unfortunate, as he would have been a great selection.

John McCain has a long career in the Senate, and he’s taken strong positions on many different issues. His problem, however, is that he can’t seem to remember them. His latest gaffe involves his position on Social Security. Yesterday he denied ever being in favor of private accounts. Of course, that’s not true. He clearly expressed support for privatization back in 2004.

These tax cuts look like a political winner.

The story behind McCain’s first divorce is heartbreaking. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the campaign.

Hillary Clinton was at her best on Saturday in her endorsement of Obama. She had a job to do, and she did it well. In time, many of her supporters will back Obama as they begin to realize that McCain doesn’t share their beliefs.

That said, the Obama team should not, and probably will not, be fooled into putting her on the ticket. She will always have her own agenda, and the minute he offers her the second spot he will no longer have any leverage to control her or her husband.

The only scenario for putting her on the ticket would be some kind of political disaster over the summer that threatens his ability to win this on his own. Barring that, he has many good options for VP, so Clinton supporters should not hold their breath.

Watch the whole clip. It’s hilarious when he shows the pundits who proclaimed that Hillary was the inevitable nominee. So much for sexism.

Bob Barr’s Libertarian campaign for president is already having an impact.

Bob Barr’s Libertarian presidential campaign is poised to play a serious role in this year’s elections, with early polls showing him taking away enough votes from Sen. John McCain to give Democrats a chance to win states that should be safely Republican.

Polls in Georgia and North Carolina over the last two weeks show Mr. Barr winning 8 percent and 6 percent respectively of the presidential vote, and in both cases helping keep likely Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama within striking distance of Mr. McCain in those states — which, taken together, account for more electoral votes than Florida, Pennsylvania or Ohio.