OBAMA’S STRIKE-FORCE PROBLEM: “If his policies on the war will not be all that different from McCain’s, he should stop ridiculing McCain for saying openly what his own people are saying behind closed doors. To some extent this is the result of a drawn out primary. Once the general election begins, the press will no longer give Obama a free pass on his vague statements about Iraq (the free ride may already be over). Perhaps Obama will take the opportunity to make his long-awaited pivot to the center–but that will strip the Democrats of their favored line of attack against McCain: that he would continue the war indefinitely while they would end it. Not so, apparently.”
UPDATE: Related item here.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Is calling McCain a warmonger the way to spread hope and unity? Note the contrast with how McCain reacted when his introducer savaged Obama a few weeks ago. Obama, however, doesn’t seem able to stand up to the haters on his own team. More at Hot Air, including an explicit comparison between McCain’s behavior and Obama’s. It seems especially unfair — as well as unhinged — to be calling McCain a warmonger when Obama’s people are, sotto voce pushing similar plans for a long-term presence.
MORE: Okay, I linked this Ed Morrissey post on the Obama/McCain “warmonger” issue above, but this bit is worth quoting separately:
Contrast this with John McCain’s reaction to the introduction given him by Bill Cunningham in Ohio. When McCain found out that Cunningham repeatedly used Obama’s middle name in the preceding speech, he didn’t wait for the media to ask about it. He apologized, repudiated the comments, and promised to conduct a high-road campaign. And that was just for using Obama’s actual middle name.
Does Obama believe in reciprocity? Apparently not. Obama lets his surrogates do the namecalling at his events, and then comes on stage himself to blather about setting a new tone in politics and uplifting the level of discourse in DC. He has a fabulous start on it thus far, having his campaign events serve as a springboard for slurs against McCain — a man with one son already in this conflict and another about to begin a tour shortly.
Obama heralds himself as the candidate of change. So far, we’re just seeing the same tired, hysterical anti-war rhetoric coming from his events, delivered by a classless Air America host. If Obama wants to embrace that, then voters will understand which candidate talks about changing the level of discourse, and which candidate actually works to change it. Just as with most of Obama’s policies, it’s all talk and no action.
Really, he’s not even close to living up to the rhetoric.
MORE: Obama camp responds: “John McCain is not a warmonger and should not be described as such.”