Also, John McCain took his eyes off Osama bin Laden when he supported Bush's strategy to go to war in Iraq, thus directing the forces needed for the Taliban from Afghanistan to the quagmire in Iraq.

Let me see if I can find any sentences about hunting down Osama bin laden in 2001 compared to now.

As a reader asks in genuine wonderment, Which wars did McCain win again?

As Emo Phillips once opined, "I'm a great lover ... I bet."

One would have imagined that the complete failure of Bush's "mission accomplished" swagger would have persuaded the GOP to move beyond this sort of schlock-swinging.

Schlong-swinging, please.

Greg, you might be very interested in this Washington Post transcript of Meet The Press from eight years ago, on October 21st, 2001.

RUSSERT: Would you have any problem expanding President Bush's orders to the CIA to go after Osama bin Laden to include Saddam Hussein?

LIEBERMAN: Well, I leave that to the president. But as a matter of principle and morality, of course not.

RUSSERT: Senator McCain?

MCCAIN: I think Joe's right.

And I would just like to add one additional point. I believe that we will succeed. We will endure in Afghanistan. We will take out bin Laden, and we will take out the Taliban. And then we've got a major challenge of a stable government, but...

RUSSERT: How long will that take?

MCCAIN: I think the longer we give the impression that we're there for, the shorter it'll be. Because, as you quoted from articles earlier, they think they can outlast us. I don't think they can this time.

RUSSERT: Do you believe the American people will continue to stay with that campaign?

MCCAIN: Absolutely, and I think the president is doing a great job in leading America and making us aware of the challenge we face.

But I think the real crunch is going to come after Afghanistan is settled and then we have to address the other countries, including Iraq. That's where the coalition may not be so strong. That's where people like the Saudis and the French and many others may have real reservations.

And so, we're going to have to be steadfast. And again, the president will continue and, I think, very eloquently stated, countries that harbor these terrorist organizations will be held responsible, so it'll be their choice, not ours. It'll be their choice.

RUSSERT: But after Afghanistan, you'd have no problem going after Saddam Hussein?

Link To Meet The Press Transcript From October 21st, 2001

Notice that Senators McCain and Lieberman stressed that they would have to get Osama bin Laden first, and settle Afghanistan before going into Iraq. There's more below:

RUSSERT: Senator Lieberman, should we include Iraq as a military target in this war against terrorism?

LIEBERMAN: Well, of course, I feel that so long as Saddam Hussein is in power in Iraq, the United States is in danger. And I think if you look at the words of the president's statement to Congress, again, the war against terrorism, it says, we're not going to be safe until we rid the world of people who have the capacity and the intention to strike at civilians to achieve political ends.

There is some evidence to suggest that Saddam Hussein may have had contact with bin Laden and the Al Qaeda network, perhaps even involved in the September 11 attack. That raises my suspicions.

But the more important point is, we know that Saddam would like to do us the worst kind of ill. We know that he has worked on chemical and biological weapons and, in fact, has used them against his own people and against the Iranians. In my opinion, therefore, Saddam is a terrorist.

And, therefore, we should--it should be a centerpiece of our policy after we finish the business in Afghanistan and bin Laden to end that regime. It begins for me by supporting the Iraqi opposition, the people within Iraq that want to get rid of him. But then, ultimately there has to be an American and, I hope, allied military component to that. Because as long as Saddam is there, our lives are threatened.

RUSSERT: Would you have any problem expanding President Bush's orders to the CIA to go after Osama bin Laden to include Saddam Hussein?

LIEBERMAN: Well, I leave that to the president. But as a matter of principle and morality, of course not.

RUSSERT: Senator McCain?

MCCAIN: I think Joe's right.

And Greg, here's another "odd little line" from McCain, yesterday, talking about Obama:

So I'll be looking forward to hearing what he has to say when he returns and I hope that, I hope that he will have learned that we will withdraw and we will withdraw with honor and we are succeeding so that we will be able to withdraw

Still not sure what he's saying here. Sounds to me like he's saying that we're succeeding over there, and therefore, we can withdraw.

Which sounds awfully similar to the position he has spent so much time lambasting.

Any one else think so?

The TPM poll tracker feature has just been updated, but this poll from early today has not been included. Why?

Election Central Morning Roundup
By Eric Kleefeld - July 15, 2008, 8:59AM

Poll: Obama Ahead By Nine Points, But Iraq Verdict Unclear
The new Quinnipiac poll gives Barack Obama a 50%-41% lead over John McCain among likely voters, beyond the ±2.4% margin of error. But the poll has mixed news on Iraq: Respondents say by a 59%-34% margin that the war was the wrong thing to do, but on the other hand they say 51%-43% that troops should be kept there without a fixed date for withdrawal.

BREAKING NEWS: McCain campaign spokesman has said that Sen McCain misspoke when he said, "I know how to win wars." What he meant to say was, "I know how to spin more."

The guy can't even figure out how to use Google, for god's sake.

The Obama campaign needs to call McCain out in a polite, but vigorous and systematic way for his constant slips and misstatements and let the McCain camp cry to high heaven about ageism in response.

He knows how to fly an airplane, get shot down and how to suffer and survive torture, but win wars? What a bunch of John Wayne trumped up BS. Eisenhower knew how to win wars and Grant knew how to win wars, but McCain - raspberries. He knows how to start them just like all Republicans, but finish them...

We don't hire Presidents to "win wars." We hire Generals and Admirals to win wars.

We hire Presidents to know when to start wars and when not to. Frankly, we are getting tired of wars. That's all we have done for decades. Let's try diplomacy.

McCain Grade: F ...again. Just like at the Naval Academy.

I guess McCain learned how to win wars at the Naval Academy where he ranked 894 out of 899 in his class. Why wouldn't we trust such proven knowledge?

The public is mostly buying this McCain expertise malarkey, according to polls.