Flak Attacks: McCain, Obama Trade Barbs Over Iraq, As Nation Enters Memorial Day Weekend
Campaignia was very surprised about the sparring between Senators McCain and Obama on Friday. With the nation’s attention riveted on Memorial Day trips (and the concomitant high prices of gasoline), it did not seem to be an ideal time for engagement on any topic, let alone the war, for an election that won’t officially start for well over seven months. And so Campaignia’s assessment of the intensity level of campaigning on pre-Memorial Day Friday was off completely.
Mitt Romney was involved, too, although in this case he was agreeing with McCain and so there was no discussion about a “small-varmint gun” or “Guatemalans”, as there had been earlier in the week.
Here is a concise summary of the statements involved, from a series of posts by Jonathan Martin at the Politico. In the opening salvo, from a post titled:
Romney:
“At a time when the men and women of our military fighting terrorism around the globe needed them most, Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama cast a vote that singularly defines their lack of leadership and serves as a glaring example of an unrealistic and inexperienced worldview on national security that is regrettably shared by too many of their fellow Capitol Hill Democrats.
“Voting against our troops during a time of war shows the American people that the leaders of the Democrat Party will abandon principle in favor of political positioning.
“Their votes render them undependable in the eyes of the men and women of the United States military and the American people.”
McCain:
“I was very disappointed to see Senator Obama and Senator Clinton embrace the policy of surrender by voting against funds to support our brave men and women fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“This vote may win favor with MoveOn and liberal primary voters, but it’s the equivalent of waving a white flag to al Qaeda.”
Obama replies, in Obama responds to McCain/Mitt jabs, dings McCain:
“This country is united in our support for our troops, but we also owe them a plan to relieve them of the burden of policing someone else’s civil war. Governor Romney and Senator McCain clearly believe the course we are on in Iraq is working, but I do not.
“And if there ever was a reflection of that it’s the fact that Senator McCain required a flack jacket, ten armored Humvees, two Apache attack helicopters, and 100 soldiers with rifles by his side to stroll through a market in Baghdad just a few weeks ago.
“Governor Romney and Senator McCain are still supporting a war that has cost us thousands of lives, made us less safe in the world, and resulted in a resurgence of al-Qaeda. It is time to end this war so that we can redeploy our forces to focus on the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 and all those who plan to do us harm.”
McCain fires back in McCain responds and then some:
Martin writes: “McCain responds to Obama in tough enough, if predictable, language:
“While Senator Obama’s two years in the U.S. Senate certainly entitle him to vote against funding our troops, my service and experience combined with conversations with military leaders on the ground in Iraq lead me to believe that we must give this new strategy a chance to succeed because the consequences of failure would be catastrophic to our nation’s security.”
But, McCain being McCain, he can’t help himself and goes the next step in the statement’s kicker:
“By the way, Senator Obama, it’s a ‘flak’ jacket, not a ‘flack’ jacket.”
Which is to say, “there is only one of us in this argument who has ever worn the uniform.” (my words)
And if you still don’t get it, a McCain aide blows away the anthill with, well, a rocket.
“Obama wouldn’t know the difference between an RPG and a bong.”
Obama spokesman Bill Burton takes the high road — sort of — in answer to the McCain camp’s blast:
“America doesn’t need juvenile name-calling from Washington, we need a commitment to end this war and bring our brave troops home.”
As noted above, the most complete version of what happened is from Jonathan Martin’s blog at the Politico, under the category McCain, from which all of the above statements were reprinted…
Come visit the main site - www.campaignia.org - for more information and news about Campaign 2008.