After watching the implosion this weekend for the McCain camp, in which Maliki agreed with Obama’s framing of the issue, followed by a ham-handed clarification issued through Centcom after us officials contacted and browbeat the Iraqi government (moves so awkward and transparent that Allahpundit openly mocked them), you have to wonder how easy it is going to be to continue the “Obama is not ready for primetime” nonsense the Republicans have been banking on forever.
I honestly don’t see what the GOP can do now other than declare victory and join everyone else in calls for withdrawal, but who knows. I am certain the right-wing bloggers will seize upon some minor detail as evidence of, well, something, but for the average voter, the message the past couple of days certainly appears clear, as noted by Chuck Todd on MTP:
MR. TODD: Joe Voter in Rolla, Missouri, is sitting there going, “You know, I really would like to get out of Iraq. Oh, and hey, Iraq wants us out.”
MR. GREGORY: Yeah.
MR. TODD: “Let’s go.”
MR. BROKAW: But is Iraq going to be the fault line in the fall, or is it going to remain the economy, Chuck?
MR. TODD: I think it absolutely remains the economy, and I think it’s possible we will see how both candidates use their vice presidential choices to make that emphasis.
And with Iraq out of the question (why the long faces, Republicans, you “won,” whatever the hell that means, since we still have never defined victory), an issue that most certainly is not McCain’s forte moves front and center. In fact, McCain is reeling on the economic issues, what with Gramm being chucked under the bus (sorry), and McCain left with his economic trump cards as Carly Fiorina (a loose cannon), and the potential of Romney as VP (and McCain hates Romney).
Not a good week for the Republicans. Expect more “Yeah, but he only raised 52 million in June” nonsense, as it really is all they have left. From where I sit, the trip has already been a success.
And one last point, one that seems to not be mentioned enough. All of this, everything positive that is happening for Obama on this trip- the coverage, the schmoozing of the media and the glowing coverage that will follow, the framing of Obama as capable to act on a world stage, etc., all of this is a direct result of an unforced error on the part of the GOP and the McCain campaign. They were the ones who demanded he go there. They were the kids who thought it would be cute to place a countdown ticker on their websites. I bet they disappear that bad boy pretty quick.
Mary
Well, he was going to go anyway, but yes, it appears as if they tried to pressure him to go and now it’s blowing up in their faces. FAIL.
Conservatively Liberal
I have to say that the McGoo camp must be pretty bummed out. I think they can file this under “Be Careful What You Ask For Because You Just May Get It, In Spades” (no pun intended). They have been getting hit over the head almost non-stop for the last week, and they can’t respond fast enough to one mistake before the next one hits them.
All aboard the McGoo Express and full speed ahead! Join the trainwreck looking for a place to happen!
In other news, I see that Hillary is now $25 million in the hole. I thought the
PUMA’sPUNTA’s said that they raised $10 million for their gal. Hmmm, maybe the check is in the mail?shirt
He shoots, He scores! (That really was a nice shot!)
The enthusiasm of the troops could not be concealed. There were no surly looks either, as if someone confiscated their ammo clips.
Davebo
You gotta admit, Carly Fiorina seems an odd choice as an economics adviser. But then McSame isn’t the sharpest bowling ball on the rack when it comes to economics.
I’d guess the logic behind the choice goes something like this.
Mwangangi
He’d (Obama) have to do something McCain-like on this trip to undo all of his gains just over the first few days.
Mwangangi
That’s right, I invoke McCain as the Munson of presidential campaigning.
Who will gainsay me?
Brian
I wouldn’t be surprised if they simply pretended it didn’t happen or did something along those lines, like claiming there was a mistranslation. For people like us, who are a little more in tune with what’s going on than the average voter, it would be clear nonsense. But for a lot of other people, it could make the issue ambiguous enough that McCain doesn’t lose anything politically. It probably won’t meet enough resistance in the media because reporters will either try to find a way to agree with McCain or simply be shocked that someone is trying to claim up is down to really react in a proper way. I’d like to be proven wrong, but I am not counting on it.
evie
He’d been planning this trip for a long time — he wanted to go in the spring, but Clinton wouldn’t face reality so he couldn’t do it. However, McCain’s unforced error certainly helps in their framing — they look silly bashing Obama for going when they put together a “countdown” clock. And, of course, they are getting zero points for “forcing” Obama to go.
croatoan
President Bush defined victory as Iraq being “peaceful, united, stable, and secure, well integrated into the international community, and a full partner in the global war on terrorism.” (That’s long term; they’re still having trouble with the short term goal of meeting political milestones.) The National Strategy for Victory in Iraq explicitly defines victory in Iraq, and the administration should be held to it.
Davis X. Machina
The GOP can’t let the issue crystallize as ‘We won, let’s leave’. Since ‘leaving’ is the Dem position, this transfers the ‘win’ to the Democrats.
They’ve got to hammer ‘leave’ = ‘lose’ hard, and often. I don’t know if it can still be done, but there aren’t a lot of other options.
Zifnab
Oh, its even better than that. After months of screaming and whining and hair-pulling over how the media has been ignoring Obama’s lack of foreign policy chops, the in-the-bag editorial class is now screaming and whining and hair-pulling over how the media is giving the Iraq trip way too much coverage!
ZOMG! You mean the event you’ve been pimping for months – Obama’s long-touted Iraq expedition that will finally, definitively prove that WE WON! and the Surge! worked – is getting the exact media circus you’ve been asking for?
It is but to laugh.
calipygian
Patterco is hanging on the ludicrously slim reed of differences in translation that don’t lead to differences in meaning.
Pretty soon he’s going to be calling for Maliki’s birth certificate.
Joshua Norton
Gee, it’s too bad Maliki doesn’t speak English so he doesn’t really understand what he’s saying.
Oh, wait…..
johnosahon
all i can say is LOL.
also, this just in, after the meeting with Obama and Maliki, the spokeman said this “US should leave BY 2010”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080721/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
rachel
Not if you’re Republican.
Svensker
Brian “Kill Me Please!” Kilmeade this morning on FOX said, “Don’t you think SOME Americans should be upset that Maliki, an Iraqi, is kind of interfering in an American election?”
I love Brian.
Jake
The best part, for me, is that the “withdrawal=surrender=lose” meme the McCain campaign (and their lackey Lieberman this weekend – I hate that fucking asshole) have been trying to push doesn’t have a leg to stand on. Yes, of course that won’t stop them from trying to use it, but seriously – how does it gain ANY traction at this point?
All McCain has left is to point out that he was “right about the surge”. So he repeats that over and over again, as he did this morning on Good Morning America.
Meanwhile, his struggles with geography continue. This guy is an absolutely terrible candidate. If he wins, I’m moving to goddamn Canada.
AkaDad
The only way this trip isn’t a success, is if Obama gets arrested.
GSD
That is the funniest part of this whole Obama public relations coup.
The McCain Moron Machine were the biggest advocates of what has turned into a McCain Meltdown and an Obama tour de force.
Funny stuff, Obama should pay McCain’s camp for their advice.
-GSD
rob!
i’m proud of Obama.
in the last month, he and his people kept their heads down, stayed focused, and didn’t whine while the MSM all lined up on their knees to suck on McCain’s lollipop. (“Me first!” calls Mark Halperin. “Sloppy seconds!” calls out Joe Scarborough)
now, Obama’s in Iraq, Maliki is openly endorsing him in the one area he was polling worse than McCain. he’ll come home to pictures of massive throngs of people all over the world cheering him on, while McCain is lucky to fill a Stuckey’s.
next up? the convention and the debates. oooh, goody..
Punchy
A new clubhouse leader in the Really? No Shit! Contest
Thought I’d give y’all a taste of the kind of pollys that the Sean Tevis guy is running against. This is for the school board, so not quite the same, but here’s the type of shithead he’s facing:
That’s a serious KS polly. People vote for fucks like this. Seriously.
libarbarian
HA HA
I remember when most people here were saying that he shouldn’t “cave in to rightwing frames” and let them pressure him to go. I said “he should go and shove their pedestrian attempt at a trap down their throats”.
People should listen to me more often :).
Jake
Check out Juan Cole this morning. He makes a number of interesting points, among them the fact that casualties from this June are above those from Jan, 2006, when Obama first visited.
Also, Juan Cole pointed out the stupidity of Lieberman claiming that Obama can only visit Iraq now because of the security gains that have been effected by the surge. His first visit in 2006 obviously contradicts that.
Oh the stupid, how it burns.
montysano
Not so fast, rob: the kerners over at No Quarter have been working 24/7 in Mrs. Johnson’s basement (“Larry, have you folded that underwear yet??”), and BirthCertificateGate is about to explode onto the front pages!!!
mantis
Here’s what Allahpundit said:
So yeah, they’re making shit up and talking out of both sides of their mouths as it has become clear their favorite attack on Obama is bullshit, but they win points for snark!
NewUnansweredQuestions
Magoo: Worst.Candidate.Ever.
On track to break Barry Goldwater’s record for low popular vote total in modern R vs D history. Unless Barack gets arrested for minding his own business in a Minneapolis Airport restroom, this contest is over.
Maverick: The Man, and The Car.
Both completely sucked.
The Moar You Know
McCain can’t allow a debate. I don’t know how he’s going to get out of it, but he can’t do it. Obama will slaughter him in even the most rigged contest (which is surely what we’re going to get).
Mary
Yeah, Pamela at Atlas Shrugs has a report by that same anonymous “Techdude” proving — via kerning and stuff! — that the birth certificate is a forgery.
Honestly, I haven’t seen such Photoshop-aided batshittery since a bunch of American Idol fangirls tried to prove this picture was faked.
scott
Everybody should read “What’s the Matter With Kansas” by Thomas Frank. Actually, given John’s political journey to where he is today, I’d think this book would be a must-read for many of the long-time (and presumably former Repup) members of BJ.
Frank looks at the Olathe area in his book and yes, it’s a scary place and Sean Tevis has a hard hill to climb if he wants to get elected.
Gus
Here’s the Republican plan for victory in November.
nightjar
Sadly, No! sums up best the entirety of the MCcain/Wingnut campaign strategy. “Heads I win, tails you lose”.
It’s kind of like “bait and switch” on steroids and usually non-sensical. It’s all they have, and every now and then a wingnut with an ounce of intellectual integrity, like a Allahpundit, or AJ Strata, calls them on the stoopid, but apparently to no avail, as the conservative ship of permanent majority sinks under it’s own dead weight.
Neal
Here’s some fun from Drudge:
Svensker
And a “mutilated rabbit” was found hanging on his front door? As much as Obama tries to marshal his forces and has them hang dead rabbits on people’s doors, the Forces of Truth will NOT BE STOPPED!!!!!
Crikey. These people have not jumped the shark. They’ve mutilated the sucker, wrapped the entrails around their brows, and are doing pole vaults in the blood.
John S.
Undercount a few thousand here, a few thousand there…
Mary
Dude, that was the KILLER RABBIT that almost took out Jimmy Carter. Just another sign of Barry Hussein Obomber continuing Carter’s legacy.
Davebo
Via Kevin Drum, it appears McCain has hired Miss Teen South Carolina as his geography adviser.
Dennis - SGMM
The statements by al-Maliki and the members of his government only work against McCain if they are highlighted by the MSM. They won’t be. Instead, we’ll see them contrasted with the vitiated “translation error” from Bushco and the words “casts doubt on exactly what Prime Minister al-Maliki really meant” will be heard over and over.
The media has gone into the tank for McCain so far that they can’t climb out without looking (once again) like shallow, lazy, superficial dolts more interested in pushing a narrative than in actually reporting.
Each and every one of them should be compelled by law to make every fourth appearance in full clown costume just to remind us of how credible they really are.
Zifnab
Someone should cry about it.
Seriously, we’ve all been told on countless occasions how incredibly biased the NYT is and how in-the-bag they are for the Democratic Party. Why doesn’t McMaverick send his editorial to the New York Post or the Washington Times? It’s not like he’ll lose credibility just because he’s being published in a right-wing paper… right?
This is, of course, assuming we’re not reading yet another Drudge crock of bull story about how McCain’s editorial got rejected for typos or length or some other triviality. Not that Drudge would ever make such a mountain out of a molehill.
Btw, they’ve got the Maliki live audio feed everyone’s been dying to hear up on YouTube.
Punchy
Just wait until a Very Serious George Bush tells Americans he had to bomb Iran becuase of the very serious threat they posed at the U.S./Iranian border.
And then watch at least 30% of Americans completely believe him.
Teak111
Yes the coverage is great, Obama certainly looking presidential. The Iraq trip reminds of the Iran hostage crisis and how Reagan parlayed that into victory at the polls.
But I remain skeptical that middle American is going vote in a black President who admitted to smoking and “doing” some “blow.” And that will a tragic (as in Greek Tragedy) mistake to not elect this competant, intelligent man, because ultimately we are afraid.
Fear is the one bullet the GOP has left. Make Amer afraid of Obama and Mr. McGoo will be President.
Like going back to that old girlfriend because its easy and safe.
Dennis - SGMM
And if Bush said that Iran was conspiring with Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez to invade the US then 50% of Americans would believe him.
KRK
No doubt McCain is using the nuanced neocon vocabulary.
The “border” between Iraq and Pakistan is, of course, Iran. And we all know what the “situation” there is.
Joshua Norton
Only if you are sipping the revisionist Kool-Aid. Every media hack seems more than happy to forget what the president’s own stated (and restated, ad nauseum) goal for the surge was – to create the “breathing space” the Iraqi government needs to make progress in other critical areas.
Now McCain and the GOP are being allowed to change the goal. And, surprise, surprise, the retroactive goal they’ve chosen is remarkably similar to the current situation in Iraq – violence is down while the “progress in other critical areas” is non-existent.
Once more, the media is going to let a patently false assertion go unchecked. Which is pretty much how the repugs started the war in the first place.
Dennis - SGMM
Are we altogether certain that McCain wasn’t bombing South Vietnam?
The Other Steve
Victory is every Iraqi having a Pony.
The Other Steve
In fairness, I think that’s because war opponents focused on casaulties. So now with casaulties declined, they can change the goal posts.
It’s weird that way, but Iraq isn’t about winning or losing, it’s all about war opponents being wrong.
The Thinking Man's Mel Torme
OK, here’s what we’ve got: the RAND Corporation, in conjunction with the saucer people, under the supervision of the reverse vampires, are forcing our parents to go to bed early in a fiendish plot to eliminate the meal of dinner.
We’re through the looking glass, here, people…
NewUnansweredQuestions
Oh yeah, the Surge Is Working(tm) alright.
Arizona tracking poll. Need I say more?
Joshua Norton
So let’s examine a few facts behind the bumper-sticker slogans that “The Surge is Working”.
Our presence in Iraq has strengthened the hand of every idiot in the region – al Qaeda is safe and recruiting like crazy, Hamas has come to power in Palestine, Hezbollah is back in Lebanon, and Iran has become the strongest player in Iraq.
Meanwhile, the reduction in casualties in Iraq is starting to be offset by increased casualties in Afghanistan – once again showing the Bush/Cheney/McCain/Lieberman fatal ignorance of stealing from Peter to defend Paul (and keep him in Iraq).
Poopyman
OT, but I think you might be interested in this John.
Unless of course it’s old news, but I hadn’t seen it anywhere before.
“I’m in ur city drinkin all ur Ahrn.”
Colonel Danite
Can someone tell me why the Connecticut Douchebag is still tolerated by his Democratic colleagues? He looked like a complete idiot shilling for McCain on Fox News yesterday.
Sen. Droopy
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
How many Iraqis are still in Syria, Jordan, etc? Are there any “mixed” (Sunni and Shia) neighborhoods left in Baghdad?
The ethnic cleansing combined with most middle-class Sunnis fleeing the country probably has as much to do with the decrease in violence as “the surge” has. It’s a lot easier to “keep ’em separated” when they separate themselves.
AnneLaurie
All of this, everything positive that is happening for Obama on this trip- the coverage, the schmoozing of the media and the glowing coverage that will follow, the framing of Obama as capable to act on a world stage, etc., all of this is a direct result of an unforced error on the part of the GOP and the McCain campaign.
Well, they can still hope that Obama has some kind of terrible fatal “accident” before returning to America; after all, there are still US forces in Germany, all set to respond to the Euro-weenies’ hatemongering refusal to take the GOP platform seriously.
Apart from declaring war on the EU, however, they retain the all-purpose Republican argument against the presumptive Democratic nominee: “Barack Obama, still a Ni…. gro.”
Calouste
You gotta admit, Carly Fiorina seems an odd choice as an economics adviser. But then McSame isn’t the sharpest bowling ball on the rack when it comes to economics.
I’d guess the logic behind the choice goes something like this.
Hey, Bush already did that! In Euros the dollar AKA one share in the U S of A, is worth 50% of what it was when he started.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
The Cambodia-China border region, actually.
Is there anyone else here old enough to remember Gerald Ford losing the 1976 election in part due to widespread ridicule over his misremembering the geography of Poland in one of the debates?
When the same thing happens to John McCain in today’s media environment, you never hear a thing about it, what with Obama being uppity and all. In Soviet America, you don’t misplace other countries, other countries misplace you…
LarryM
This weekend in fact proved that the media are so far in the tank for McCain that Obama has no hope of winning the election. Even the proverbial sleeping with a live boy/dead woman couldn’t do him in; the media would bury the story or some how spin in in a way that reflected poorly on Obama.
I have now officially given up on this nation, and now hope that the world bands together to defeat the U.S. utterly.
Zifnab
Victory means never having to say you’re sorry. If people are fleeing for the Syrian and Iranian borders, they were probably terrorists we’d need to have flushed out and Haditha’d at some point in the future anyway.
If that number grows to 2-3 million refugees, it just proves how good a job our nation’s finest military officers are performing and how dire the threat is in Iran and Syria. Anyone who disagrees is an Iranian/Syrian sympathizer and should be investigated for terrorism himself. I mean, you’re either with us or against us here.
Digital Amish
As if I don’t have enough to worry about. Now I have to consider the fact that these people are out there walking the streets of America.
Brachiator
The news reporters on the more conservative talk radio stations have been given heavy play to an audio clip in which McCain emphasizes that this is “the first time” that Obama has traveled to the Middle East. It makes it all the more hypocritical that previously McCain had been suggesting that he and Obama travel to Iraq together (no doubt with Joe Lieberman behind them whispering sweet nothings into McCain’s ear). I suppose that the right wing would have sold that trip as McCain schooling the young and inexperienced on the art of war. Now, cheated, of that image and the resulting soundbites, McCain just sounds like a fool.
Where are all those right wing boneheads who kept carping on how Obama’s low bowling score was an indicator of how out of touch he was with average Americans? Obama seems to be doing pretty well here with the troops. Oh, well.
It may be as simple as that McCain seems to have a thing for blonds.
w vincentz
I keep hearing Johnnie McInsane saying that “We have succeeded in Iraq.”
That sounds very clear. It’s done, over, finished.
So…does anyone know why he’s still waiting for the military brass, the guy the White House keeps trotting out, the General Thyme Hereyeson guy, to inform him of when the successful withdrawl can begin?
NewUnansweredQuestions
Because as everyone knows, in America, we have military control over the civilian government.
Read yore Constatooshun, for crissakes.
Chuck Darwin
Rusty’s point is very well taken. I’m so tired of hearing about the surge outside of the larger context. The massive ethnic cleansing of the past five years put into place conditions that benefited the surge enormously. Anytime someone trumpets the surge and decries the war’s opponents, I begin to boil with rage at the calculated dismissal of these facts. It used to be that Burkean conservatives properly denounced Soviet-era ideology of egg-breaking and omelette-making as perverse and anti-humanistic. Where have those folks disappeared to?
Ricky
Chuck asks: “It used to be that Burkean conservatives properly denounced Soviet-era ideology of egg-breaking and omelette-making as perverse and anti-humanistic. Where have those folks disappeared to?”
Fossil evidence, Mr. Dear Mr. Darwin, clearly disputes your theory of their disappearance. They were simply chucked from the bus along with Phil Gramm and are playing with the dinosaurs.
Ricky
Would somebody please tell w vincentz that making fun of the service and name of Maj. General Time Horizon is a dead give away of America hating. General Thyme Hereyeson does not sound like no manly American boots on the ground guy to me. French, maybe. Definitely effeminate.
w vincentz
Ricky,
I am not an “America hater”. Nor am I making fun of “the service”. It really does function as a Darwinian eliminator of genetics that are unfit for procreation.
The idiots that sign up and get themselves killed due to their beliefs, whether propagandized by flag wavers or Christian crusaders, demonstrate that their flawed genes must be removed from the gene pool so that those with thinking skills can remain and utilize the ever shrinking resources of the planet.
Ricky, why do you mention the French? They invented a very nice way of kissing.
Dreggas
911 CHANGED EVERYTHING!
Mwangangi
…and frying potatoes
w vincentz
Yup…”freedom fries”.
Conservatively Liberal
Don’t forget their excellent toast!
TenguPhule
I welcome our new Chinese Overlords.
At least in China, when they catch a politic with his hand in the cookie jar, they shoot the bastard.
Conservatively Liberal
And bill his family for the bullet.
Joe
I have a suggestion as a replacement for “throw under the bus”: whatever happened to “leave hanging out to dry?” Or does that not adequately capture the violence suggested by throwing someone under a bus?