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Category: President 2008 (Page 35 of 80)

Angry John McCain completes his conversion to the dark side

John McCain’s campaign is so bad it’s starting to become embarassing. He’s completely embraced Rove-style politics, but he’s so incompetent that he gets caught telling outright lies as he’s tries to destroy Obama’s reputation.

The Washington Post details how McCain’s charge that Obama wanted to bring the press along on his scheduled hospital visit in Germany is completely false. This is so lame, and it comes from a man who pledged to run an “honorable” campaign.

I always had respect for McCain, but it’s amazing how low he will go to win. That respect is gone.

He’s probably trying to bait Obama to meet him for a fight in the gutter, but I suspect Obama will not respond in kind. Obama has plenty of ammunition with McCain’s policy positions, particularly recent ones where he has embraced George Bush’s policies. He can also focus on how McCain contradicts himself almost on a daily basis. He can leave the cheap shots to supporters who will be more than happy to point out where John McCain’s actions in life don’t live up to the “honorable” standard he claims to set for himself.

Iraqi Prime Minister supports Obama’s withdrawal plan

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.

McCain team worried about Bayh

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.

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