In one of the worst political miscalculations of all time, McCain & Co. convinced themselves that shaming Obama into this tour, could only result in a win-win situation for them. If he didn't go they could trumpet his refusal to acquire first-hand experience of the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan as further proof of his wrong-headed approach to ending the Iraq war and bringing home our troops.
If he did go they could say that he only went because McCain had made him do it. Either way, they were sure that Obama would fall flat on his face. They hoped that the visuals would further reinforce the image they were attempting to paint of him as the young inexperienced political novice. Or better yet, he would make some huge gaffe which would sink his campaign. Unfortunately, neither scenario played out. The visuals or to use the new buzz word the "optics" managed to do just the opposite. The images of his meeting with the leaders of Iraq and Afghanistan and later with the leaders of Britain, Germany and France, the images of him being cheered by the troops, the image of him on board a helicopter with General David Petraeus were pure political gold for Obama.
The second challenge they faced this week was covering the gaffes made by their own candidate.
Maybe it was McCain's seething anger and resentment over the success of Obama's tour and the lavish mostly positive coverage from both the national and international press that caused him to wrong-foot himself at every opportunity. His claim that it was the "Surge" that caused the so-called Anbar Awakening when in fact it occured prior to the start of the Surge; his reference on at least three occasion to "Czechoslovakia" a country which ceased to exist years ago; his reference to the dangers along the "Iraq-Pakistan" border (only if he drew your own map) served only to raise more doubts about both his mental acuity and whether he is the more qualified to be president as he constantly claims. And yesterday's radio whine was icing on the cake.
But it did make for some great television. I don't think I've seen so many Republican operatives twist, squirm, and generally contort themselves into human pretzels since the good old days of Nixon and Watergate. What fun!
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