McCain Blasts Obama As Unfit To Defend America
On a conference call with conservative bloggers this afternoon, John McCain launched what may be his most direct attack yet on Barack Obama's national security credentials, saying flat out that Obama is incapable of protecting America and lacks the necessary traits to keep it secure from foreign threats.
In a reference to Obama's declared willingness to meet with the leader of Iran, McCain said:
"I think [it] is an unacceptable position, and shows that Senator Obama does not have the knowledge, the experience, the background to make the kind of judgments that are necessary to preserve this nation's security."
That seems like an unequivocal declaration that Obama is incapable of protecting this country. In the past, McCain has raised doubts about Obama's national security cred, but to our knowledge has never taken the step of declaring outright that he's unfit to defend the country.
McCain's comments also go considerably farther than McCain did in his comments this morning about Bush's Israel speech attacking Dems. In those remarks, McCain said Obama needs to explain why he's willing to sit down with a "state sponsor of terrorism."
I was invited to join the blogger call by the McCain campaign as part of its effort to reach out to non-conservative bloggers. McCain is the only candidate right now to hold regular blogger conference calls.
On the call, McCain also signaled that he's eager to have a national security debate surrounding questions such as whether to negotiate with the leader of Iran. "I look forward to having that debate with him and take it to the American people," McCain said.
Full context of McCain's remarks after the jump.
Here's what McCain said, in the course of answering a question about whether he agreed with Bush's claims this morning that those who would meet with the heads of hostile foreign powers favor "appeasement":
All I can say is: If Senator Obama wants to sit down across the table from the leader of a country that calls Israel a stinking corpse, and comes to New York and says they're gonna, quote, "wipe Israel off the map," what is it that he wants to talk about? What is it that he wants to talk about with him?And the belief that somehow communications and positions and willingness to sit down and have serious negotiations need to be done in a face to face fashion as Senator Obama wants to do, which then enhances the prestige of a nation that's a sponsor of terrorists and is directly responsible for the deaths of brave young Americans, I think is an unacceptable position, and shows that Senator Obama does not have the knowledge, the experience, the background to make the kind of judgments that are necessary to preserve this nation's security.
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