Did McCain actually flip flop on the question of whether scenes of international violence help him politically? Looks that way.

The Obama campaign is keeping up the pressure on the McCain campaign over top McCain adviser Charlie Black's assertion that a terror attack on U.S. soil would benefit McCain, which McCain subsequently disavowed. On a conference call with reporters moments ago, the Obama camp said it had dug up a quote from McCain back in December when he did in fact say that the specter of attacks helped him.

Black had also said that the Bhutto assassination had helped McCain. And the McCain camp disavowed this, too. But here's what McCain said back when the assassination happened:

In an interview with reporters after the event, McCain said, "I would hate for this tragedy to affect anyone's campaign." But he was quick to add that "my theme throughout this campaign has been that I'm the one with the experience, the knowledge, and the judgment. Perhaps it may serve to enhance those credentials."

On the call, one of Obama foreign policy advisers drolly noted the inconsistency. "Back in Decmember, he said something very different," he said. "He said that the assassination...would enhance his national security credibility."

Yep. Wonder if the big news orgs will note this in their coverage of McCain's "disavowal" of Black's remarks.

Late Update: Just to clarify, this is important because it suggests that McCain really does think what Black inadvertently revealed.

Late Update: Here's the audio from the call:

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