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Obama Camp: McCain's Positions on Afghanistan "Surreal" and "Confused"




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"Up until a few days ago, his view was that we hadn't diverted any effort and attention from Afghanistan to deal with Iraq. That there was no need for additional American forces in Afghanistan. That all, in effect, was going well," Dr. Susan Rice (Obama's Senior foreign policy adviser and communications strategist) said Wednesday, adding: "Yesterday, he woke up and came to the sudden conclusion that indeed Afghanistan merited more strategic focus -- something the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has been saying for months -- and that we would therefore be willing to put in additional combat brigades. But then he got confused again, as to whether those needed to be American or NATO [troops] or some combination thereof."

Gibbs also had some fun with the McCain campaign's theme of consulting with commanders on the ground before forming strategy.

"Those reporters who were traveling with Senator McCain yesterday can verify whether he was consulting with the commanders on the ground in Afghanistan multiple times yesterday that would coincide with the multiple positions he seemed to take," Gibbs said.

Before the conference call began, the McCain camp sent out a blast email to reporters repeating its criticism of Obama for not holding any hearings on Afghanistan since taking over a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee last year. Rice, in turn, attempted to explain away that political barb -- also used by Sen. Hillary Clinton during the primaries -- by saying that the subcommittee would be the wrong venue for hearings on Afghanistan.

"Joe Biden has said that as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he insisted and continues to insist that hearings on Afghanistan -- such a critical issue -- be held at the full committee level, and not at the subcommittee level," Rice said. "Perhaps the McCain people will understand that and cease their senseless attack on this point." She didn't sound very optimistic.
crob80227

6 responses // Obama Camp: McCain's Positions on Afghanistan "Surreal" and "Confused"

  • Let's step back and take a look at this from a different prespective -- that is to say the perspective of the former Hillary supporters who repeatedly insist that McCain is the superior alternative to Obama.

    In light of McCain's frankly shocking gaffes and mistakes -- his overall clulessness -- do the former Hillary booster still want to make the claim that McCain is just as smart as Hillary? Or (less flattering) than Hillary is "just as smart as McCain"?

    As the campaign wears on comparing Hillary to McCain is only making Hillary look worse.

    Personally I think Hillary is one helluva lot smarter (and more coherent) than McCain on any issue. Even if she were sloppy drunk and had a concussion Hillary can speak more intelligently on foreign policy than McCain.

    Do they STILL want to insist both candidates are roughly the same and that they'd rather vote McCain over Obama?
    crob80227
  • Agreed. Hillary is smarter than McCain with her cingulate sulcus tied behind her back.
    krag2112
  • Not saying McCain is as smart as Hillary at all. But they are both more qualified and experienced than the junior Senator.
    JohnA
  • Sure John, keep telling yourself that. Sunni, Shia, Checkoslovakia...what difference does it make? After all, Bush couldn't keep any of that stuff straight and that turned out okay, right?
    krag2112
  • JohnA -- refresh my memory. How many YEARS of experience does Hillary have as Senator and how many does Obama have?

    Would it be easier to give her additional "experience" in days?

    So let's stop pretending Hillary is some elder statemen that worked with JFK and has been steadily passing legislation for the past 40 years.

    Now getting back to McCain's positions -- which are the polar opposite of Hillary's -- and his stunning lack of intelligence.

    Explain to me again how Johnny Retard, er, I mean the esteemed Sen. McCain is a more viable alternative to Hillary Clinton as opposed to Sen. Obama?
    crob80227
  • McCain's incredible mistatement that Afghanistan perfectly fine and that no resources were diverted from Afghanistan because of Iraq should disqualify him as a serious Presidential candidate.

    Add to that his stunning reversal (after being TOLD the reality of the situation) wherein he "revised" his early statements to acknowledge that, oops, he had mispoke about the security situation on the ground in Afghanistan and it's amazing the Republican party hasn't demanded he step down.

    At this point the McCain Presidential campaign should be taken about as seriously as Pauly Shore and his running mate Andy Dick.
    crob80227

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