12:01 am
Beyond the Pale
Earlier today, McCain said the following during a town hall meeting in New Hampshire:
So much for waging an ideas-based campaign.
I think what we’re seeing is a manifestation of McCain’s cranky temper. Think about it. He was right on the surge. But he was wrong about how that would impact the duration of the American troop presence in Iraq. When the surge helped bring about something resembling “victory” (or at least something good enough for Maliki to regard it as such) it managed to completely undermine his argument for keeping the troops there for another five years, much less one hundred. In other words, he managed to lose the argument by being right. And now he’s lashing out.
It’s not just unseemly and unfortunate — it’s beyond the pale. And it’s not just pundits who feel that way. Here are excerpts of four of the emails Brandon Freeman over at Vet Voice received after McCain’s slam was broadcast on the cabletubes:
As a veteran of a fifteen-month combat tour in Iraq at the height of the surge, it is incredibly offensive to see John McCain make off color remarks about Senator Obama’s view on Iraq, claiming he “wants to lose” there. By bolstering his political rhetoric, he forgets that many veterans of the war in Iraq would like to see a reallocation of forces to Afghanistan to combat genuine threats to our national security. Would John McCain be so cavalier to say that I want to lose in Iraq, a place where many of my friends left their lives and limbs?
To say that Barack Obama wants to “lose” in Iraq is completely beyond acceptable standards of political discourse. For Senator McCain to impugn the loyalty and patriotism of a sitting United States Senator while he is overseas to gain some short-term political leverage is beneath the dignity of the office which he holds. This is an act of political desperation and moral cowardice. John McCain should be ashamed of himself and immediately apologize.
I am very disappointed to hear another combat veteran like Senator McCain say that Senator Obama wants to “lose” the war. When I served in Afghanistan and Iraq, our objective was to win the War on Terror and we always gave it 100 percent. His statement today is very insulting to me and all the others who continue fighting the war today.
I don’t know what Senator McCain is talking about. How is staying in Iraq for a 100 years winning, while responsibly removing our military from a sovereign country–at their request–losing? Wasn’t leaving the whole point?
Okay, you get the point. But combine these comments with the ecstatic reception Obama got from the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, and it’s becoming increasingly clear that McCain is alienating segments of the military.
The question is, which segments? I think I found the answer to that when I went to North Carolina to canvass for Obama during the primary. I assigned to the Fayetteville area, the home of Fort Bragg, Pope AFB, and thousands and thousands of active duty and retired military. As I went door to door, I noticed an interesting (albeit completely unscientific) trend: the officer class was overwhelmingly for McCain. The enlisted men and women, on the other hand, were overwhelmingly for Obama.
Just before the primary, North Carolina had just adopted a new law allowing residents to register and then vote absentee at the same time. On the Saturday before the primary, which was the last day that people could do that, I must have had two dozen enlisted men and women tell me that they had switched their registration from Republican to Democrat so they could vote for Obama. That’s not a big sample, but it is an interesting trend.
It’s going to be really interesting to see who wins the military vote. If the Obama camp is smart, it will replicate the Bush Administration’s strategy from 2000 and do everything they can to get active military — particularly enlisted — to register and vote. It could make a real difference in key swing states like North Carolina and Florida.
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