From AllahPundit:Â
How on earth did we arrive at an election scenario where the hawk is trying to bait the dove into talking about Iraq?
Heh. The dove is not having any of the hawk’s proposed bipartisam trip to see Iraq for themselves, though:
John McCain’s proposal is nothing more than a political stunt, and we don’t need any more ‘Mission Accomplished’ banners or walks through Baghdad markets to know that Iraq’s leaders have not made the political progress that was the stated purpose of the surge.
Obama’s campaign’s rhetoric is a bit worrying, as it is simply out of touch with reality; all serious observers agree there has been tremendous political progress in Iraq. With the press openly swooning, Obama’s likely to win the election, and with the nomination increasingly sure the excuse that he’s campaigning to his primary audience is beginning to wear a bit thin. Is he really this far left?
 The answer to that could be very, very important to 25 million Iraqis just beginning to enjoy the fruits of peace and freedom.
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If Senator Obama were even half smart, he would accept the invitation, go to Iraq, be enthusiastically persuaded, declare that this is proof that he and the Iraqis can work together to bring the troops home ASAP, publicly embrace and discuss with the Iraqi leaders, and thus remove from the debate one of Senator McCain’s strongest issues.
That’s kind of what I assumed would happen gradually by the summer. I’m starting to wonder how much he’s actually going to moderate, though.
If he did it now — if he took Senator McCain’s offer and turned it to his advantage — the results would be huge. I’m a big believer in rhetorical jiu-jitsu. He could meld his message into Senator McCain’s and come out the clear victor. It wouldn’t be that hard. He would lose the hard left, but he’s gonna lose them anyway, because he can’t keep his cut-and-run campaign promises.
By the fall, the issue would be off the table. If anyone asked, he could say, "I’ve met the Iraqi leaders. They can succeed, if we just give them the right kind of help, the kind they haven’t gotten for five years. I’m going to give them that help."
If he can’t see this opportunity to win the whole shebang right now, he’s not as smart as I thought.
Obama to the people of Iraq:Â Your life is not worth the reversal of a
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