McCain in Baghdad

by **Dan Wishengrad** on Thu Mar 20, 2008 4:46 pm

During my decade working in politics, about the only thing that we Democrats could consistently agree with our Republican counterparts on was the importance of "the Dean" of American politics, David Broder. Broder is usually spot-on with his insights, and he neither favors nor spares either party. Everybody in Washington reads Mr. Broder, and his take on the issues of the day carries great weight with both sides on our political divide. Although everyone loves to argue about who they think Broder actually votes for himself (and it almost surely wasn't Bill Clinton), it is often difficult to ascertain what his own leanings are. This year, he has written good and bad things about each of the major party candidates for President. Today's column on Senator McCain's trip to Baghdad makes some critical points that nobody else seems to have noticed, given all the recent attention on Senator Obama's race speech:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/o ... der20.html

Comments?

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by **StrykerFSU** on Thu Mar 20, 2008 8:45 pm

His Shi'ite/Sunni gaffe notwithstanding, I don't think there is too much to this. I don't think that a U.S. Senator, presumptive nominee or not, has the political capital to make the kind of hard ultimatums that Broder suggests to a foreign head of state. Regardless of what McCain did or didn't say in public, I feel he is very capable to hold the Iraqi's feet to the fire when it comes to meeting their obligations. If Sen. Obama can claim mastery of all issues of race, then Sen. McCain certainly deserves the benefit of the doubt when it comes to war and soldiering. This is not Slick Willie or Bubya we're talking about here.

Sen. McCain has supported the Iraq War from the very start but he has been vocally opposed to its implementation for nearly that long. To lump him in as a continuation of Bush's "failed" strategy is just plain wrong.

But as you say, this whole affair has slipped under the radar because of Rev. Wright. I wouldn't think that this is the first time that a election is influenced based on the news cycle (not to get too far ahead of ourselves).

by **KnoxVegas** on Thu Mar 20, 2008 9:13 pm

When can the tax payer expect the bill for the campaign commercials, or at least b-roll, that were shot on the trip? :roll:

by **Dan Wishengrad** on Fri Mar 21, 2008 10:23 am

The very point that Mr. Broder made, Cliff, is not that Sen. McCain committed any gaffes -- other than his misunderstandings about Iran and Al Qaeda, of course -- but that he missed a golden opportunity to define what his Presidency could possibly accomplish should he be elected.

Sen. McCain is the unquestioned champion of our war in Iraq, a war he is pledged to continue for, as he has stated publicly, perhaps another 50-100 years. To what end? If our unquestioned military might can't allow the Iraqis themselves to "get their act together" and to create a working government, why are we even fighting and dying on Iraqi soil? Have we seen any real steps towards that a real reconciliation of the Iraqi people? Will our patience, under a President McCain, have any limits at all on our resources, financial investment and American lives? Exactly how is McCain any different from Bush if he will not hold the Iraqis accountable?

I believe that Broder is absolutely right, that McCain has gotten away from the "straight talk" which made him so admirable to many of us, and now has become such a cheerleader for this tragic war that he can't even see a downside to it anymore. If he can't or won't even demand that the Iraqis themselves make some real progress, on their own, Sen. McCain is doomed to lose an election he should have otherwise have had a certain chance to win.

by **KnoxVegas** on Fri Mar 21, 2008 11:19 am

When the first Bush left office, he handed over to Clinton the disaster that was and continued to be Somalia. Like father. Like son.

by JW on Mon Mar 24, 2008 12:00 pm

KnoxVegas wrote:When the first Bush left office, he handed over to Clinton the disaster that was and continued to be Somalia. Like father. Like son.

Right on...

I wish we would be just as concerned about a Democratic process that was interrupted in Kenya that resulted in lives taken then trying to create another democratic state.

It is amazing what we will do when the Interests of the United States gov't are in play, but when it comes to just human interest, for the life of me, we are no where to be found.