Clinton tried this. That's why McCain thinks, "Meet me in Iraq, Barack Obama!" will work.

Don't be so certain this won't get any traction. Most Americans are pretty stupid.

If you are curious about who is on the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee that will be deciding on Florida and Michigan, here is the list with their affiliations.....

The tally: Hillary has 13 supporters, Obama 8 and 7, in addition to the 2 co-chairs have not yet endorsed. The member from Florida is an Obama supporter. One of the co-chairs, Alexis Herman, was one of Bill Clinton's cabinet members.

Co-Chairs - no endorsement
Alexis Herman (co-chair, Washington , D.C. )
James Roosevelt, Jr. (co-chair, Massachusetts )

Members - Clinton supporters (13)

Hartina Flournay (DC)
Donald Fowler (SC)
Harold Ickes, Jr. (DC)
Alice Huffman (CA)
Ben Johnson (DC)
Elaine Kamarck (MA)
Eric Kleinfeld (DC)
Mona Pasquil (CA)
Mame Reiley (VA)
Garry Shay (CA)
Elizabeth Smith (DC)
Michael Steed (MD)
Jaime Gonzalez, Jr. (TX)

Members - Obama supporters (8)

Martha Fuller Clark (NH)
Carol Khare Fowler (SC)
Janice Griffin (MD)
Thomas Hynes (IL)
Allan Katz (FL)
Sharon Stroschein (SD)
Sarah Swisher (IA)
Everett Ward (NC)

Members - no known endorsement (7)

Donna Brazille (DC)
Mark Brewer (MI)
Ralph Dawson (NY)
Yvonne Gates ( NV)
Alice Germond (DC) - DNC Secretary
David McDonald (WA)
Jerome Wiley Segovia (VA)

One to keep your eye on: New York lawyer Ralph Dawson. It was his idea to strip the states of their delegates. He contributed $1,000 to Obama. He says he's also given to Hillary. Can he really be uncommitted at this juncture? Maybe... he says his primary goal is nominating the one that is more electable in November, rather than his personal preference.

Another "uncommitted" , David T. McDonald of Washington has already nixed Hillary's idea publicly:

McDonald said he wouldn't respond well if Clinton wanted to seat delegates based on the contests that already took place in the two states.

"If she makes the motion to allocate 'beauty contest' delegates, she will not get support from me," he said. "If she gives [the states] a chance to comply with rules, I will consider it, but they were given 30 days to comply already."

Here's an oddity: Jerome Wiley-Segovia. Although from Virginia, he was appointed by Dean to represent the Latino vote. He thinks Obama has a better chance of winning but praises Hillary's campaign for its "competency."

Watch the coming Barackarate! technique... you can almost sense McCain's failure that lies within his attack... the Barackarate! master will use the failure and the momentum of the attack to once again defeat the old man.

Maybe a comeback would be to get some of the disgruntled generals from Iraq on board or how about the military dems that have been to iraq to point out how full of sh*t mccain is. Traveling to iraq doesn't give you any insight into what is actually going on. You get spoon fed garbage and you fly in and out. What on earth could that possibly tell you about the reality on the ground?

I vote for a smack down by ex-generals.

Why didn't you vote on the GI Bill, Senator McCain?

You say you are against, yet you didn't even show up to vote. That's pretty weak.

I don't want a President who is weak, self-serving, and doesn't support the troops in a tangible way.

McC needs to solidify his base. His base = idiots.

McCain making the argument that the war in Iraq is not failing is great for Obama. I hope McCain keeps pushing the "success" of the Iraq war. This issue is a sure loser for McCain. By the way, did everyone see the response McCain gave to the hecklers at his recent speech? "I will NEVER surrender in Iraq." Sounds like he is planning on having our troops in Iraq FOREVER.

LOL Did McCain just read the Obama statement to his crowd of supporters? What a stupid move!

**How would that work, exactly. His secret service detail would be added to McCain's, AND the military forces necessary to protect the leading candidates? And McCain thinks this would be a good photo op?
Why would McCain even consider such a dumb move? Old fart should stick to yelling at kids.

And who does that remind you of?

The only people Bush ever spoke to while campaigning were his heavily vetted supporters.

that's the only people his handlers would let him near. Negativity is just more than Commander Coocoo Bananas could handle at that time. That was also the period when he had ramps and platforms built all the time so that his feet didn't touch the dirt.

Clinton campaigned against Obama like this was still the 1990's...and lost.

Now McCain is going to campaign against him like it's 2004.

LOL.

"So we've got to show him the facts on the ground."

Is McCain aware that this is just a figure of speech? He seems to think that the facts are literally lying on the ground in Iraq and you therefore have to go look at them.

McSame thinks they can just fly in (probably in the middle of the night), stroll around - or visit those heavily-armed and guarded US military bases - and leave with the idea that they Understand Iraq.

I think Obama may be a bit smarter than that. I don't think he's ignored the coverage of previous visits and the logistics involved.

Posted by Liam yeasterday (this was so good, I have to repost it on Liam's behalf):

Franklin Roosevelt beat the Germans and the Japanese from his wheelchair, and he did not see the need to visit either Berlin or Tokyo while he was winning both major wars. He is the last American President to actually achieve complete surrender of the enemy in major wars.

The problem with the Iraq war is not that American Leaders have not spend enough time there; it is that they have spent too much of our brave Troops time and life blood there, without having a clue on how to complete the mission.

McCain is the Godfather of Bush's Misbegotten Iraq Folly.

Liam - if you're out there, send this brilliant response to the Obama campaign. If not, I will.

McCain is representing himself a an expert on the Iraq War. Since he has been running for the presedency, he has also been stating how the war was mishandled in several ways.

Odd, though... he did not air any of his concerns either publicly or in front of the Senate before running for this office. Instead, he fully supported the administration in every way, as far as I have seen.

Apparently, the lives of the folks he was representing at that time were much less important thanthe propaganda eminating from Washington.

Perhaps he needs to explain this to the families of the soldiers who never made it back home... and to the taxpayers who have mortgaged their children;s futures to pay for this fiasco...

If McCain tries anything so juvenile as a "DAYS SINCE WE OFFERED TO GO TO IRAQ WITH OBAMA" tally, Obama should argue with a "NUMBER OF AMERICAN TROOPS KILLED IN A SENSELESS WAR" tally in return.

I imagine the tallies would be mutually dropped fairly quickly.

Did you see liam's link to Dowd's OP-ED bit today? Funny and a powerful rebuttal to the "Clinton's have already been vetted" argument:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/opinion/28dowd.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

McCain's Iraq "invitation" is an attempt to shift the argument from the appropriateness of our invasion to the effectiveness of it. He's trying to argue that we're being successful there (we're "winning") if violence is down; but the real argument is whether, regardless of what's going on in Iraq, we should be there rather than elsewhere.

It's not whether the flames is bright and beautiful, it's whether we should have set the house on fire in the first place.

I want the U.S. out of Iraq as much as any person on this thread. But McCain's message will resonate with voters who see Obama as ready to cut-and-run. McCain's challenge is not seen so much as Obama being too chicken to go there, it can rightly be seen as his inclination to be doctinaire and unwilling to consider alternative scenarios given the ever-changing situation over there.

There are many, maybe most, Americans that want us out of Iraq. But just as many might agree that leaving with a modicum of success and stability is more important than just running away ASAP. By refusing to get a first-hand assessment Obama appears to be an ivy-league elitist who operates on theories rather than realities. That appearance will not work in his favor to those who still want to exit with some dignity and some success. Obama will be painted as a cowardly appeaser. Ready to cut-and-run regardless of the circumstance over there.

And of course once again, Obama is in reactionary mode. Never leading, always reacting. I doubt that McCain would issue this same challenge to Clinton.

Obama's secret weapon his VP, Jim Webb.

Obama/Webb '08

Steam roll over the Republicans to the White House!!!!

CHANGE is on the way baby!

Obama's best response:

The numerous "tours" in Iraq of the kind suggested by McCain mean that entire units are deployed away from their families simply to protect visiting dignitaries. I believe these troups should be used either to complete our mission in Iraq and allow us to withdraw our forces or they should be sent home to be with their families immediately. They should not be used as pawns in cynical political attacks like those made today by John McCain.

How about countering with an invitation to McCain to take a "Stockton Stroll" in California to get him on the ground and educate him about the housing crisis.

Oh, wait. Phil Gramm has already briefed him on that.

Some great news on the Human Rights front. Now pressure has to be put on Russia, China, Israel, and the USA to also ban the use of these weapons that are used to commit war crimes against civilian populations, many of them young children. Put the heat on the USA to get on board.

DUBLIN (AFP) - The text of a landmark international convention to ban cluster bombs was agreed Wednesday by delegates from more than 100 countries meeting in Dublin, an Irish foreign ministry spokeswoman told AFP.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080528/ts_afp/irelandweaponsdiplomacy_080528201535

Excerpt:

The draft treaty agreed in Dublin read:

"Each state party undertakes never under any circumstances to:

"(a) Use cluster munitions;

"(b) Develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile, retain or transfer to anyone, directly or indirectly, cluster munitions;

"(c) Assist, encourage or induce anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a state party under this convention."

China, India, Israel, Pakistan, Russia and the United States -- all major producers and stockpilers -- are absent from the Dublin talks.

McCain is framing the debate on national security.
Obama is playing defense and getting his ass kicked.

We told you we need a fighter.

Damn.

This won't fly. (Kind of like McCain and his 5 crashed jets.) The big news is Puerto Rico and Montana/South Dakota. Will knock this right out of the news. Not to mention McClellan. And really, people are much more concerned with paying their gas bills than a trip to Iraq.

Subliminability's 78th rule of campaigning:

As a rule of thumb, don't spend extended periods of time reading opponent's reasonably well crafted, snarky press releases out loud to your own audience. They might agree with it.

McCain is War Monger. There is only one thing worse than a War Monger; that is an incompetent War Monger, that start a war that they do not know how to end. That is the Bush/McCain legacy.

McCain is the Godfather of Bush's Misbegotten Iraq Folly.

Vote for McCain and chant:

More War Years! More War Years! More War Years!

If you love war without end, then here is your choice.

http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/05/28/gall.bushmccain.gi.jpg

How many more of our Soldiers will he put in harms way for a Political stunt?

Obama's camp responds with a shot invoking the news of the day. Said Bill Burton:

“On the day after the former White House press secretary conceded that the Bush administration used deception and propaganda to take us to war, it seems odd that Senator McCain, who bought the flawed rationale for war so readily, would be lecturing others on their depth of understanding about Iraq. Senator Obama challenged the President's rationale for the war from the start, warning that it would divert resources from Afghanistan and the pursuit of Al Qaeda and mire us in an endless civil war. Senator McCain stubbornly insists on pursuing the failed Bush policy that continues to cost so much, while Senator Obama believes it's time to begin a deliberate, careful strategy to remove our troops and compel the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own future."

I'm surprised McCain read the whole response, and I think even he realized it was a mistake. Notice how he got quieter and sped up over the most damning parts.

Also, I was watching the crowd, and they didn't seem to be giving him any reaction. No shaking or nodding of heads, nothing that indicated they were even really paying attention.

I say there Senator McCain; hey there McCain, yes you, I am talking to you War Monger Breath:

Question: If all your visits to Iraq have made you so much of an expert on how to win your stupid war, then why do insist that you will need another HUNDRED YEARS IN IRAQ. What say you to that, Bush's Branded Maverick of The Panderosa!

This is so absurdly easy to refute. I can hear the Obama response:

"Our troops on the ground in Iraq have enough to do without pulling them away from critical missions to guard politicians for photo-ops. No photo-op is worth endangering the life of a soldier needlessly."

I guess McCain forgot that Obama voted against the war in the first place, so what's the point of this venture?

Obama doesn't need to know how "liberating" the free fall feels for the lemmings charging off the cliff.

Yea, it's always Hillary's fault. That goes without saying.

Gee, I wonder why they want to get Obama to Iraq so badly. You don't suppose they had plans to supply him with a helmet that's about three sizes too large and a flak jacket that says "Corporal Dipshit" on it, do you? Imagine the photo ops. It could be like Mike Dukakis all over again.

It's hard to imagine they'll get any real traction with something as transparently silly as this one, though.

Ah... but this is America. They just might...

Since when do we have someone from the bottom of the class, McCain graduated 894th out of a Naval Academy class of 899 and that was with a daddy and granddaddy who were Admirals and graduates also, teach the person at the top of their class, Obama editor of Harvard Law Review.

Perhaps Obama should invite McCain for the Poverty Tour in America that John Edwards requested.

THIS IS EXCELLENT NEWS, MY FRIENDS, FOR McSAME!