Obama should say, "It's quite funny that John McCain would respond to this matter. This is another example of the misjudgement that McCain has shown in his approach to Iraq. It is precisely because of his gross error in voting for the war in Iraq that Al Qaeda is thriving in Iraq. They are a part of the problems on ground there. As Commander-in-Chief and as President of the United States, my withdrawal strategy will involve working with the Iraqi government to root out Al Qaeda. I remain committed to American interests here at home and abroad. I also look forward to a robust debate over how John McCain has helped the Bush administration mismanage the war in Iraq."

ThePage just reported that Obama "makes sharp, taunting extended direct response in Columbus, Ohio," to John McCain's charge. The video's to come soon.

The Obama campaign's response will reference Bush and McCain, I guarantee it. The point is to saddle McCain with every unfavorable item of the Bush years. The strategy, make this a referendum on the Bush presidency. By the time of the general election, McCain will be viewed as the incumbent. And any referendum on the Bush years points to a landslide in the general election.

Indeed, calling out the absurdities of the Republican worldview and promoting as an alternative a reality-based approach to foreign policy is a superior strategy to cowering to their bullying and voting along with their insane blunders. In other words, lead instead of pander. Why has this been so difficult for the DNC to figure out?

This is a rather lame and dishonest criticism from McCain. I'm sure he knows perfectly well that Obama is aware of the existence of the self-styled "al-Qaeda in Iraq". Obama was not addressing the possibility of al-Qaeda elements conducting operations in Iraq for the very first time, but was specifically addressing the possibility that some of these al-Qaeda elements might consolidate a base of operations somewhere in Iraq on the occasion of a US withdrawl.

But if McCain knows of the existence of, not just al-Qaeda elements in Iraq, but significant al-Qaeda bases in Iraq that his hero George Bush has inexplicably neglected to take out, perhaps he could inform us about their location?

Is McCain talking out his butt again? Where's McCain getting his info? Have things changed in Iraq significantly that Al-Qaeda has been setting up bases SINCE THE SURGE/since Sept?

Sept '07: "...in a new report, the Congressional Research Service notes that attacks from al Qaeda are only a small percentage of the violence in Iraq, criticizing the Bush administration’s statistics and noting that this false reporting on AQI has increased since Bush’s “surge” began:

Increasingly in 2007, U.S. commanders have seemed to equate AQ-I with the insurgency, even though most of the daily attacks are carried out by Iraqi Sunni insurgents.

Link to the CRS report @ Thinkprogress
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/09/08/crs-al-qaeda/

I hope we get our in-party fighting crap sorted out soon... so we can start focusing on McCain...

Hillary bye-bye...

If the war McCain supported had never been waged, there wouldn't have been any Al Qaeda in Iraq in the first place.

Greg, sorry to quibble, but al-Zarqawi was running Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (renamed Al-Qaeda in Iraq/Mesopotamia in 2004) from Iraq since the 90's. They were battling Kurds in the north before the U.S. invaded. Your point is valid, as the group grew, expanded operations, and swore allegiance to Bin-Laden after the U.S. invasion, but you should probably address the technical inaccuracy.

Genghis,

I don't know you very well, but I do know that you use a bit of sarcasm in your communication here.

So I have to ask, in all seriousness, are you serious?

It's worth noting, incidentally, that recent history shows that Republican presidential contenders have proven better at using such mockery to their advantage than Dems have. George W. Bush got a great deal of mileage out of mocking both Al Gore and John Kerry in a way neither Dem could manage.

McCain is going to encounter a different kind of Democrat, who knows how to dish back in response to taunts. Here's Australian PM John Howard back in January, 2007, claiming an Obama victory would be good for al-Qaeda;

If I were running al Qaeda in Iraq, I would put a circle around March 2008, and pray, as many times as possible, for a victory not only for Obama, but also for the Democrats," Howard said, speaking on "Sunday," a TV show on Australia's Nine Network.

And here is Obama in response:

I think it's flattering that one of George Bush's allies on the other side of the world started attacking me the day after I announced. I would also note that we have close to 140,000 troops in Iraq, and my understanding is Mr Howard has deployed 1,400, so if he is ginned up to fight the good fight in Iraq, I would suggest that he calls up another 20,000 Australians and sends them to Iraq. Otherwise it's just a bunch of empty rhetoric.

Bang.

The only way to deal with right wing hate politics is to punch em right back in the teeth.