While the Barack Obama campaign pounced on rival John McCain’s gaffe Wednesday about the importance of bringing the troops home from Iraq, both sides are attempting to define the role the war will play in the race for president.
The war grabbed center stage in the presidential race after McCain’s interview with the “Today Show’s” Matt Lauer in which the Arizona Republican told Lauer “it’s not too important” to decide when to bring home troops in Iraq.
Lauer had asked McCain whether he had “a better estimate” of when the troops could return home, given McCain’s belief that conditions have improved on the ground. “What’s important,” McCain countered, “is the casualties in Iraq.”
About two hours after McCain’s interview, the Obama campaign announced a conference call with Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass, and Obama’s senior foreign policy advisers Susan Rice and Richard Danzig.
The Obama camp quickly framed McCain’s comments as a sign of incompetence and promise of a “third Bush term.” Obama has pledged to begin an immediate, gradual withdrawal of troops if he is elected president.
Kerry said McCain’s statement underscored “an enormous, fundamental flaw in his candidacy for president, which has supposedly hung on his strength as commander in chief and an understanding of foreign policy.” The McCain camp fired back, saying the Obama campaign was hiding Obama’s “willingness to disregard facts on the ground in pursuit of withdrawal no matter the costs.”
With top Iraqi officials voicing frustration this week with the idea of a significant continued American presence in Iraq, even referring to “colonization,” McCain’s pitch for a long-term security arrangement like the ones the U.S. has shared withGermany and Japan may be a harder sell.
University of Colorado political scientist Scott Adler believes Obama stands to pick up critical independent voters who are in the middle of the two candidates on war policy.
“Obama can get more mileage out of promising immediate withdrawal after taking office, regardless of whether this is feasible,” Adler said.
Democratic strategist Bob Beckel agreed. “It’s not about whether the surge is working or not, but rather when are these guys are going to come home,” Beckel said. “That is the heart and soul of the issue.”
