Active Military for McCain

John McCain's message to his supporters.

2008-11-10T12:34:00.000-05:00

11/07/2008:

Cindy and I would like to take a moment to thank you for your loyal and steadfast support during the course of this campaign. Governor Palin, her husband Todd, our families, friends and campaign staff extend our deep appreciation for your tireless dedication, support and friendship.

It is the end of a long journey and your support through the ups and downs has meant more to us than you may ever know.

Although we were disappointed with the results, we must move beyond this campaign and work together to get our country moving again.

It is our sincere hope that you will join us in putting our country first and continue to work to keep our nation safe, free and prosperous.

We urge you to join us in not just congratulating Senator Obama, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together as a nation. Whatever our differences may be, we are all fellow Americans.

We are truly blessed to live in this great country and call ourselves Americans, and we will forever be her loyal servants.

Today, let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth.

With warm gratitude,

Cindy and John McCain

Senator John McCain's election night remarks.

2008-11-10T12:31:00.000-05:00

Always a class act, always a patriot:

Remarks from Senator John McCain
November 4, 2008

Thank you. Thank you, my friends. Thank you for coming here on this beautiful Arizona evening.

My friends, we have -- we have come to the end of a long journey. The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly. A little while ago, I had the honor of calling Senator Barack Obama to congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love.

In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving.

This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight.

I've always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Senator Obama believes that, too. But we both recognize that though we have come a long way from the old injustices that once stained our nation's reputation and denied some Americans the full blessings of American citizenship, the memory of them still had the power to wound.

A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt's invitation of Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters. America today is a world away from the cruel and prideful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African American to the presidency of the United States. Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth.

Senator Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country. I applaud him for it, and offer in my sincere sympathy that his beloved grandmother did not live to see this day, though our faith assures us she is at rest in the presence of her creator and so very proud of the good man she helped raise.

Senator Obama and I have had and argued our differences, and he has prevailed. No doubt many of those differences remain. These are difficult times for our country, and I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.

I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together, to find the necessary compromises, to bridge our differences, and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.

Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that.

It is natural tonight to feel some disappointment, but tomorrow we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again. We fought as hard as we could.

And though we fell short, the failure is mine, not yours.

I am so deeply grateful to all of you for the great honor of your support and for all you have done for me. I wish the outcome had been different, my friends. The road was a difficult one from the outset. But your support and friendship never wavered. I cannot adequately express how deeply indebted I am to you.

I am especially grateful to my wife, Cindy, my children, my dear mother and all my family and to the many old and dear friends who have stood by my side through the many ups and downs of this long campaign. I have always been a fortunate man, and never more so for the love and encouragement you have given me.

You know, campaigns are often harder on a candidate's family than on the candidate, and that's been true in this campaign. All I can offer in compensation is my love and gratitude, and the promise of more peaceful years ahead.

I am also, of course, very thankful to Governor Sarah Palin, one of the best campaigners I have ever seen and an impressive new voice in our party for reform and the principles that have always been our greatest strength. Her husband Todd and their five beautiful children with their tireless dedication to our cause, and the courage and grace they showed in the rough-and-tumble of a presidential campaign. We can all look forward with great interest to her future service to Alaska, the Republican Party and our country.

To all my campaign comrades, from Rick Davis and Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter, to every last volunteer who fought so hard and valiantly month after month in what at times seemed to be the most challenged campaign in modern times, thank you so much. A lost election will never mean more to me than the privilege of your faith and friendship.

I don't know what more we could have done to try to win this election. I'll leave that to others to determine. Every candidate makes mistakes, and I'm sure I made my share of them. But I won't spend a moment of the future regretting what might have been.

This campaign was and will remain the great honor of my life. And my heart is filled with nothing but gratitude for the experience and to the American people for giving me a fair hearing before deciding that Senator Obama and my old friend Senator Joe Biden should have the honor of leading us for the next four years.

I would not be an American worthy of the name, should I regret a fate that has allowed me the extraordinary privilege of serving this country for a half a century. Today, I was a candidate for the highest office in the country I love so much. And tonight, I remain her servant. That is blessing enough for anyone and I thank the people of Arizona for it.

Tonight, more than any night, I hold in my heart nothing but love for this country and for all its citizens, whether they supported me or Senator Obama, I wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president.

And I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties but to believe always in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here.

Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history, we make history.

Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you all very much.

http://www.johnmccain.com/splash110408.htm

Ohio Coal Association: Obama Ticket Not Supportive of Coal.

2008-11-03T13:37:00.000-05:00

Ohio Coal Association Says Obama Remarks Make It Clear: Obama Ticket Not Supportive of Coal:

Mike Carey, president of the Ohio Coal Association (OCA), today issued the following statement in response to just-released remarks from Senator Barack Obama about the nation's coal industry:

"Regardless of the timing or method of the release of these remarks, the message from the Democratic candidate for President could not be clearer: the Obama-Biden ticket spells disaster for America's coal industry and the tens of thousands of Americans who work in it.

"These undisputed, audio-taped remarks, which include comments from Senator Obama like 'I haven't been some coal booster' and 'if they want to build [coal plants], they can, but it will bankrupt them' are extraordinarily misguided.

"It's evident that this campaign has been pandering in states like Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Indiana and Pennsylvania to attempt to generate votes from coal supporters, while keeping his true agenda hidden from the state's voters."

Complete story here

Obama to Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana: I promise to bankrupt your coal industry.

2008-11-03T13:23:00.000-05:00

An important update from our good friends at Faultline USA. Barack Obama is promising to bankrupt (his exact words) the US coal industry.

Barack Obama in a January 17, 2008 interview with the San Francisco Chronicle:

"Let me sort of describe my overall policy. What I've said is that we would put a cap and trade system in place that is as aggressive, if not more aggressive, than anybody else's out there. . .

So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it's just that it will bankrupt them because they're going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that's being emitted. . ."

Complete story: http://faultlineusa.blogspot.com/2008/11/obamas-words-on-bankrupting-coal.html

Newt Gingrich on why John McCain is better for AMERICA.

2008-11-02T16:58:00.000-05:00

Newt Gingrich on McCain/Palin:

"THERE are profound reasons to believe the McCain-Palin ticket offers a better future for most Americans than the Obama-Biden ticket.

John McCain can be expected to appoint judges who respect the vital role that religion has historically played in American public life.

In a bad economy, McCain would focus on economic growth and job creation. Obama has promised to focus on "spreading your wealth."

Watching the ACORN organization come under investigation in more than a dozen states for voter fraud and illegality, it is sobering to imagine what Obama, a former ACORN trainer and community organizer, would do to give even more of our tax money to this hard-left, corrupt organization. It is also unlikely an Obama Justice Department would prosecute any of the donor-fraud and voter-fraud allegations that are rapidly building up.

The recent stories about Obama's friendship with apologists for terrorism are a reminder that we really do not know how radical an Obama administration would be. We do know he has promised to meet with every dictator and anti-American regime. McCain's record on these issues is far sounder.

Finally, on the vice presidency, it is revealing that no national network TV interviewer asked Gov. Sarah Palin about her experiences as governor; her experience writing an $11 billion state budget; her experience leading the 29,000 employees of the Alaskan state government; her experience negotiating a big deal with ExxonMobil, Shell, BP and the rest of Big Oil; her success in giving the money from that negotiation to the people of Alaska as a $1,300 tax cut for every man, woman and child in the state; or her experience in negotiating a natural-gas pipeline that is the biggest civil-construction project in North America, and which three former governors failed to get done.

For these reasons and more, the McCain-Palin ticket would lead to a much better future for America than Obama-Biden."

Newt Gingrich, speaker of the House from 1995 to 1999, is the author of "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less."

Please read the complete NY Post article here

The race gets even tighter in Michigan and across the USA!!!

2008-11-02T16:13:00.000-05:00

What's happening in Michigan is happening in your state too. The momentum is shifting our way across the country. Spread the word and keep the McCain/Palin faith!

"In Michigan, the latest Detroit News/EPIC-MRA poll shows Obama currently only has 50% of the vote, and if Undecideds break for McCain, Obama's lead would be only 2%. If Obama loses a point or two from his 50% standing he will likely lose this state and its 17 Electoral Votes!!

This poll was taken one-week ago, and our data indicates the race has gotten even closer. Rassmussen Reports also shows a tightening of the race. With the national Zogby 1-day tracking poll showing McCain pulling ahead of Obama on Friday, it is clear the momentum is with McCain/Palin.

We believe Michigan is very much in play. Polls likely over-sample Obama supporters and also probably include a few percentage points of artificial support from those voters intimidated to say they are voting for McCain given the media's campaign to portray McCain supporters as being "racist" or "intolerant." And there is no early voting in Michigan, so we can still catch Obama by Tuesday!

Since there is NO early voting in Michigan, we have the chance to impact this race over the next 3 days and gain the lead for McCain/Palin!"

Source: http://www.ourcountrydeservesbetter.com/

Still a CLOSE race!!

2008-10-27T19:42:00.000-04:00

Some very good news to report, friends! The poll that was most accurate in calling the 2004 presidential election, the IBD-TIPP poll, shows McCain has narrowed Obama's lead for the past 3 days and it's now down to just 2.8% with 8.8% of voters still undecided!

Friends -- we can make up 2.8% in the polls and win this race!

Link: http://www.ourcountrydeservesbetter.com/

Military Times poll: detailed results.

2008-10-23T14:16:00.000-04:00

Here are the detailed results of the poll of Military personnel about the Presidential election (in percent):

______________________McCain      Obama_
Overall                       68%            23%
Army                                  68                23
Navy                                   69                24
Air Force                            67                24
Marines                              75                18
Retirees                              72                20
White Non-Hispanic           76                17
Hispanic                              63                27
Black/African- American      12                79
Enlisted                               67                24
Officers                                70                22

Somehow we missed seeing this in the New York Times or the Washington Post.

Military Times poll here (pdf)

Military Times poll: Troops backing McCain

2008-10-22T11:46:00.000-04:00

No surprise here. Fully 68% of those polled support John McCain. These are Americans who are fighting for us every day and they are overwhelmingly in the McCain camp. That says volumes about who John McCain is and what he means when he says "Country First". Our troops live "Country First" every day.

Military Times poll: Troops backing McCain:

"McCain, R-Ariz., handily defeated Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., 68 percent to 23 percent in a voluntary survey of 4,293 active-duty, National Guard and reserve subscribers and former subscribers to Army Times, Navy Times, Marine Corps Times and Air Force Times."

"John McCain went to war for this country, even though he had an admiral father who probably could have gotten him out of the service,” Army Sgt. 1st Class Derriel D. Collins said. “He stuck it out five years in a prisoner of war camp. If that ain’t fortitude, showing your willingness to go all the way, I don’t know what the credentials are."

Full story linked here.

This is going to be a CLOSE election.

2008-10-21T19:03:00.000-04:00

Do not buy into the Mainstream Media's sickeningly endless pro-Obama propaganda machine!

The Battleground Poll's latest results are as follows:

McCain 47% Obama 48% Undecided 6%

THIS RACE IS NOT OVER!

Poll results: http://www.tarrance.com/files/2-way-ballot-trender-10-20.pdf (pdf 208 kb)

Battleground Poll website: http://www.tarrance.com/bg.cfm

Click here for Rush Limbaugh on Battleground Poll

Fight ACORN, get this voter ID petition out NOW!!

2008-10-17T19:48:00.000-04:00

Once again, the democrats are trying to steal a presidential election. This time it's Obama's favorite radical group ACORN doing the dirty work.

Emergency Voter Identification petition. You can sign and they'll send an email to your congresspersons. It's important that you sign and let our congresspersons be flooded with email telling them we're fed up with people wanting to steal the election!

Click here to sign the petition and please forward this to as many people as possible!

Ain't it the truth!

2008-10-17T19:31:00.000-04:00

A Democratic operative pointed out that when Obama holds a rally 25,000 - 30,000 people show up, whereas when McCain holds one he only draws 10,000 - 15,000.

The Republican spokesman replied -

"That's because McCain's supporters are at work."

Obama Flees Michigan: WE STRIKE NOW!

2008-10-17T19:15:00.000-04:00

ALERT - October 17, 2008

We're writing to you from our tour bus, having just finished our "Stop Obama Tour" rally in Henderson, Nevada. We have some very important news to alert you to.

The Detroit News and other media outlets are reporting that Barack Obama's campaign is pulling staff and advertising from Michigan. They have created a huge opening for us to come in and take this state away from the Obama column and win the state's hugely important 17 electoral votes for the McCain/Palin ticket.

We are pleased to announce our first $100,000 purchase of TV ads has been placed in Michigan, with the ads beginning on Monday in 5 markets. And another $100,000 worth of ads will start on Tuesday, expanding into the rest of the state. And we have even more ads to come after that.

BARACK OBAMA'S COCKINESS WILL COST HIM THIS STATE: WE ARE GOING TO WIN MICHIGAN FOR THE McCAIN/PALIN CAMPAIGN!

These three ads below are the first three ads that will run in the state.

Here's the first ad everyone's talking about with reporting on the anti-Obama ad appearing on Fox News Channel, CNN, CBS News, Time Magazine's political report, "The Page", the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, National Journal, New York Newsday, and several other media outlets:

WATCH "OBAMA'S WRONG VALUES" - HERE

The next ad is being run specifically in Michigan - where the Obama campaign has now followed the McCain campaign in pulling resources out of the state. This means the state of Michigan is now "in play" -- if we can raise enough money, we can turn the tide and erase the lead Obama's campaign had built over the past 2 weeks. The ad features Obama's connections to such controversial and corrupt figures including domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, anti-American and racist pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and the scandal-plagued former Mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick:

WATCH AD ON OBAMA'S TIES TO AYERS, WRIGHT, KILPATRICK

And finally this ad below which has begun to run in key swing states and has been denounced by Obama supporters. The reason they are upset? It features Sen. Hillary Clinton ripping into Obama on a host of fronts, and could swing Independents and Democrats into the McCain camp in the final days before the election.

WATCH AD: HILLARY RIPS OBAMA - HERE

PLEASE - make a contribution to our ad campaign fund so we can expand this ad buy to other states beyond Nevada, Colorado and Michigan (the first 3 states we've bought time for the ad which represent 31 Electoral Votes).

P.S. We have officially launched our "Stop Obama Tour" across the nation. We need to get crowds out to these events, especially with the heightened media interest in our effort now building. Full tour details - HERE.

LINK: http://www.ourcountrydeservesbetter.com/

TO ALL BLOGS

2008-10-06T19:38:00.000-04:00

Here is your chance to speak up for Sarah Palin! It takes 5 seconds!

Let's turn this around!!!

Friends,

PBS has a short video on Sarah Palin on their website. Also included is a poll that asks: Is Sarah Palin qualified to be VP?
I logged on a few minutes ago and 49% percent had voted YES, 50% NO.

Let's turn this around..... You don't have to give your name or email address in order to vote. It's very simple. Forward this to your friends as well. This is a liberal netowrk with a liberal audience.
Let's surprise them!

Here 's the link to the poll: http://www.pbs.org/now/polls/poll-435.html

After you vote, please pass this message to others of like mind!

Obama attempts to undermine the United States in Iraq.

2008-09-21T18:04:00.000-04:00

Barack Obama. The man from nowhere, the man ashamed of America and American power, the man with a huge 150 days of Senate experience has lowered himself further by his despicable attempts to undermine the United States when he was on his Obama World Tour back in July.

Amir Tehiri:

WHILE campaigning in public for a speedy withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, Sen. Barack Obama has tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a draw-down of the American military presence.

Obama has given Iraqis the impression that he doesn't want Iraq to appear anything like a success, let alone a victory, for America. The reason? He fears that the perception of US victory there might revive the Bush Doctrine of "pre-emptive" war - that is, removing a threat before it strikes at America.

Despite some usual equivocations on the subject, Obama rejects pre-emption as a legitimate form of self -defense. To be credible, his foreign-policy philosophy requires Iraq to be seen as a failure, a disaster, a quagmire, a pig with lipstick or any of the other apocalyptic adjectives used by the American defeat industry in the past five years.

Yet Iraq is doing much better than its friends hoped and its enemies feared. The UN mandate will be extended in December, and we may yet get an agreement on the status of forces before President Bush leaves the White House in January.

Amir Tehiri column

Amir Tehiri defends his column after Obama hacks complain

New York Post endorses McCain-Palin

2008-09-13T16:46:00.000-04:00

The New York Post has endorsed John McCain for President of the United States. Here are some important excerpts from their endorsement:

McCain's lifelong record of service to America, his battle-tested courage, unshakable devotion to principle and clear grasp of the dangers and opportunities now facing the nation stand in dramatic contrast to the tissue-paper-thin résumé of his Democratic opponent, freshman Sen. Barack Obama.

National Security: The differences between McCain and Obama are especially stark.

McCain says 9/11 represented a two-decade "failure . . . to respond to . . . a [growing] global terror network." He understood that Iraq is a critical front in the war on terror - and he urged perseverance even in the dark days that preceded the success of "the surge."

Obama backed policies that would have abandoned Iraq to its fate, he bitterly opposed the surge, and once insisted that US forces invade Pakistan in search of Osama bin Laden - seemingly without regard for the potential consequences of attacking a nuclear-armed nation, ally or not.

Regarding a nuclear Iran, McCain has pushed for the strongest possible international sanctions and diplomatic pressure. Obama opposes sanctions.

And, when Russia invaded the former Soviet republic of Georgia, threatening a return to the Cold War, McCain reacted with stern disapprobation: "We must remind Russia's leaders that the benefits they enjoy from being part of the civilized world require their respect for the values, stability and peace of that world."

Obama called for UN action - unaware, apparently, that Russia's Security Council veto would have prevented any.

Energy Security: On the economic issue most vexing Americans today - energy prices - McCain is aggressive

He is a strong convert to offshore drilling: "We have trillions of dollars' worth of oil and gas reserves in the US at a time we are exporting hundreds of billions of dollars a year overseas to buy energy."

He also strongly backs nuclear power - a carbon-free form of energy that America can produce relatively cheaply.

Obama, meanwhile, hews to the Democratic Party line on energy: no nukes, no drilling and no comprehension of the consequences of such policies.

None of this implies an iota of disrespect toward Obama. It took a formidable candidacy to defeat Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. And the intelligence, the organizational skills and the ability to communicate that Obama demonstrated from the beginning dramatically underscore the history that is being made by the first African-American to head a major-party presidential ticket.

He should be around for a long time, and we hope that he is.

In the end, though, sound security, economic and energy policies - plus allegiance to principle - are critical to keeping America safe and strong.

Complete editorial linked here.

Another Obama mouthpiece (Jimmy Carter, who else) insults POWs.

2008-08-31T15:58:00.000-04:00

Just when you think it's safe to like Jimmy Carter, he opens his mouth. Now working as an Obama mouthpiece, he is continuing the military-bashing dirty work started by Tom Harkin and Wesley Clark. Carter's latest outburst was particularly obscene considering the damage he did to the US military during his one term in office. Carter said that Sen. McCain was "milking every possible drop of advantage" from his time served as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

Great work, Jimmy. Actually Jimmy, you and the other Obama henchmen Harkin and Clark are doing America a favor. You are reminding voters that John McCain was a Prisoner of War and that Barack Obama was a - community organizer (insert laughter here).

Carter is saying what Obama can't. Carter is Obama's compliant marionette, mouthing whatever words the boss puts in his mouth.

Story here

McCain in 5-point lead over Obama in Reuters/Zogby poll.

2008-08-20T13:48:00.000-04:00

Americans are starting to pay attention to this election. Note how John McCain is solidifying the support of his base while Obama's base is fracturing.

Some key points:

McCain leads Obama among likely U.S. voters by 46 percent to 41 percent, wiping out Obama's solid 7-point advantage in July and taking his first lead in the monthly Reuters/Zogby poll.

The poll was taken Thursday 8/14 through Saturday 8/16 as Obama wrapped up a weeklong vacation in Hawaii that ceded the political spotlight to McCain, who seized on Russia's invasion of Georgia to emphasize his foreign policy views.

McCain now has a 9-point edge, 49 percent to 40 percent, over Obama on the critical question of who would be the best manager of the economy -- an issue nearly half of voters said was their top concern in the November 4 presidential election. That margin reversed Obama's 4-point edge last month on the economy over McCain.

Obama's support among Democrats fell 9 percentage points this month to 74 percent, while McCain has the backing of 81 percent of Republicans. Support for Obama, an Illinois senator, fell 12 percentage points among liberals, with 10 percent of liberals still undecided compared to 9 percent of conservatives.

"Conservatives were supposed to be the bigger problem for McCain," Zogby said. "Obama still has work to do on his base. At this point McCain seems to be doing a better job with his base. "The dip in support for Obama cut across demographic and ideological lines. He slipped among Catholics, born-again Christians, women, independents and younger voters.

Obama's support among voters between the ages of 18 and 29, which had been one of his strengths, slipped 12 percentage points to 52 percent. McCain was winning 40 percent of younger voters.

It made little difference when independent candidate Ralph Nader and Libertarian Party candidate Bob Barr, who are both trying to add their names to state ballots. McCain still held a 5-point edge over Obama, 44 percent to 39 percent, when all four names were included. Barr earned 3 percent and Nader 2 percent.

Article linked here

Putin, Georgia, Russia and McCain.

2008-08-15T18:03:00.000-04:00

I just read Garry Kasparov's excellent piece in the Wall Street Journal about Russia's brutal invasion of Georgia. John McCain
has been one of the few to understand what's really going on in Putin's belligerent Russia.

Garry Kasparov:

The conflict also threatens to poison Russia's relationship with Europe and America for years to come. Can such a belligerent state be trusted as the guarantor of Europe's energy supply? Republican presidential candidate John McCain has been derided for his strong stance against Mr. Putin, including a proposal to kick Russia out of the G-8. Will his critics now admit that the man they called an antiquated cold warrior was right all along?

Complete WSJ article linked here.

Who do you want as Commander-In-Chief??

2008-08-03T16:03:00.000-04:00

Who do you want as your next Commander-In-Chief?

No cameras, no reporters, no campaign hacks = No Obama troop visit.

2008-08-02T18:37:00.000-04:00

Statement on Barack Obama’s Canceled Troop Visits in Germany:

Today, Command Sergeant Major Craig Layton, USA (Ret.) -- who served as the Command Sergeant Major at Landstuhl -- issued the following statement on Barack Obama's canceled visit to Ramstein and Landstuhl:

"Having spent two years as the Command Sergeant Major at Landstuhl Hospital, I am always grateful for the attention that facility receives from Members of Congress. There is no more important work done by the United States Army than to care for those who have been wounded in the service our country. While Americans troops remain engaged in two hot wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is a steady stream of casualties to the hospital, and a steady stream of visitors who wish to meet with those troops and thank them for their service.

"Senator Obama has explained his decision to cancel a scheduled visit there by blaming the military, which would not allow one of his political advisers to join him in a tour of the facility. Why Senator Obama felt he needed an adviser with him to visit U.S. troops is unclear, but if Senator Obama isn't comfortable meeting wounded American troops without his entourage, perhaps he does not have the experience necessary to serve as commander in chief."

Even the Obama worshipping NY Times sees through his story:

If the story behind the story of the canceled troop visit has run its course, one question remains: Why didn’t Mr. Obama leave his aides behind, even the retired general, and make the visit by himself?

Linked here

McCain poll numbers improve in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

2008-07-31T10:24:00.001-04:00

More interesting results from the latest Quinnipiac University Poll. The race is tightening in Sen. McCain's favor. It looks more and more like McCain's Iraq position and his pro-energy-exploration positions are resonating with the American voter.

Quinnipiac Poll:

"With likely voters concerned more about energy than the war in Iraq, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama’s recent tour apparently didn’t help, as Arizona Sen. John McCain gained on the Democratic front-runner in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to simultaneous Quinnipiac University Swing State polls released today.

While Obama was on tour, trying to show voters he could handle world affairs, voters were home trying to fill their gas tanks.

The same voters who give President George W. Bush job approval ratings that are more than 2 – 1 negative want Congress to go along with the President on offshore oil drilling. By margins of 27 to 30 percentage points, voters in each state say Congress should agree with President George W. Bush and allow offshore drilling for oil. Sen. McCain supports offshore drilling, while Sen. Obama opposes it.

By margins of 10 to 20 percentage points, voters in each state support McCain’s plan to keep U.S. troops in Iraq with no fixed date for full withdrawal, rather than Obama’s plan to set a fixed timetable for withdrawal.

Those who said Sen. McCain was throwing away Florida’s electoral votes by advocating more offshore drilling might want to think again. By a 60 – 33 percent margin Florida voters back President Bush’s call for more offshore drilling and want Congress to go along, as Sen. McCain has suggested.

Pennsylvania voters support 55 – 41 percent drilling for oil in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge.

Ohio voters back 55 – 40 percent drilling for oil in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge."

Complete poll results here.

McCain ahead in USA Today poll of likely voters.

2008-07-30T08:54:00.000-04:00

Encouraging news. Interesting results considering how the Obama camp expected European adulation to translate into better poll numbers here in America, where by the way, the presidential election will be taking place.

"The Friday-Sunday poll, mostly conducted as Obama was returning from his much-publicized overseas trip and released just this hour, shows McCain now ahead 49%-45% among voters that Gallup believes are most likely to go to the polls in November. In late June, he was behind among likely voters, 50%-44%."

"Also, McCain's sharp words about Obama and the media last week may have energized his faithful."

Full story here

McCain up in 4 key states.

2008-07-25T16:41:00.000-04:00

Guess which presidential candidate got a bounce in the polls this week. John McCain! While self-proclaimed "citizen of the world" Barack Obama is on his international photo-op and publicity tour, John McCain is emphasizing the critical importance of domestic oil exploration to the American economy.

"In Colorado, McCain led 46 percent to 44 percent. Obama led in Michigan, 46 percent to 42 percent; by 46 percent to 44 percent in Minnesota and by 50 percent to 39 percent in Wisconsin, according to the polls posted on Quinnipiac University's Web site.

Voters in the four states back offshore drilling by margins of 22 to 31 percentage points. The polls also show voters in those states would support drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by 7 to 12 percentage points.

The polling data come in a week in which Obama has received heavy news coverage with a trip through war zones, the Mideast and Europe."

Here are the new poll results:

Colorado (9 electoral votes): McCain up 2% to 46%, Obama down 5% to 44% (in June, Obama 49%, McCain 44%).

Michigan (17 electoral votes): Obama down 2% to 46%, McCain steady at 42% (in June, Obama 48%, McCain 42%).

Minnesota (10 electoral votes): Obama down 8% to 46%, McCain up 7% to 44% (in June, Obama 54%, McCain 37%).

Wisconsin (10 electoral votes): Obama down 2% to 50%, McCain steady at 39% (in June, Obama 52%, McCain 39%).

The Quinnipiac release on its poll notes that McCain "has picked up support in almost every group in every state, especially among independent voters and men voters."

Full story links:
Seattle Times
Washington Post
Free Republic

New York Times: All the Obama-only editorials that we see fit to print.

2008-07-21T17:23:00.000-04:00

The collection of left-wing journalists and ex-Clinton administration hacks that calls itself the New York Times has ruled from on high that John McCain's editorial is unfit to print. They gave wonderful excuses, but what it comes down to is that the NYT has become unashamedly all-Obama, all the time.

(To email to the public editor of the New York Times Clark Hoyt: public@nytimes.com but don't expect a reply.)

Here is the text of John McCain's editorial that the New York times was afraid to print. Perhaps the phrase "winning the war" sent them under their desks up at the NYT offices:

In January 2007, when General David Petraeus took command in Iraq, he called the situation “hard” but not “hopeless.” Today, 18 months later, violence has fallen by up to 80% to the lowest levels in four years, and Sunni and Shiite terrorists are reeling from a string of defeats. The situation now is full of hope, but considerable hard work remains to consolidate our fragile gains.

Progress has been due primarily to an increase in the number of troops and a change in their strategy. I was an early advocate of the surge at a time when it had few supporters in Washington. Senator Barack Obama was an equally vocal opponent. "I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence there,” he said on January 10, 2007. “In fact, I think it will do the reverse."

Now Senator Obama has been forced to acknowledge that “our troops have performed brilliantly in lowering the level of violence.” But he still denies that any political progress has resulted.

Perhaps he is unaware that the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has recently certified that, as one news article put it, “Iraq has met all but three of 18 original benchmarks set by Congress last year to measure security, political and economic progress.” Even more heartening has been progress that’s not measured by the benchmarks. More than 90,000 Iraqis, many of them Sunnis who once fought against the government, have signed up as Sons of Iraq to fight against the terrorists. Nor do they measure Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki’s new-found willingness to crack down on Shiite extremists in Basra and Sadr City—actions that have done much to dispel suspicions of sectarianism.

The success of the surge has not changed Senator Obama’s determination to pull out all of our combat troops. All that has changed is his rationale. In a New York Times op-ed and a speech this week, he offered his “plan for Iraq” in advance of his first “fact finding” trip to that country in more than three years. It consisted of the same old proposal to pull all of our troops out within 16 months. In 2007 he wanted to withdraw because he thought the war was lost. If we had taken his advice, it would have been. Now he wants to withdraw because he thinks Iraqis no longer need our assistance.

To make this point, he mangles the evidence. He makes it sound as if Prime Minister Maliki has endorsed the Obama timetable, when all he has said is that he would like a plan for the eventual withdrawal of U.S. troops at some unspecified point in the future.

Senator Obama is also misleading on the Iraqi military's readiness. The Iraqi Army will be equipped and trained by the middle of next year, but this does not, as Senator Obama suggests, mean that they will then be ready to secure their country without a good deal of help. The Iraqi Air Force, for one, still lags behind, and no modern army can operate without air cover. The Iraqis are also still learning how to conduct planning, logistics, command and control, communications, and other complicated functions needed to support frontline troops.

No one favors a permanent U.S. presence, as Senator Obama charges. A partial withdrawal has already occurred with the departure of five “surge” brigades, and more withdrawals can take place as the security situation improves. As we draw down in Iraq, we can beef up our presence on other battlefields, such as Afghanistan, without fear of leaving a failed state behind. I have said that I expect to welcome home most of our troops from Iraq by the end of my first term in office, in 2013.

But I have also said that any draw-downs must be based on a realistic assessment of conditions on the ground, not on an artificial timetable crafted for domestic political reasons. This is the crux of my disagreement with Senator Obama.

Senator Obama has said that he would consult our commanders on the ground and Iraqi leaders, but he did no such thing before releasing his “plan for Iraq.” Perhaps that’s because he doesn’t want to hear what they have to say. During the course of eight visits to Iraq, I have heard many times from our troops what Major General Jeffrey Hammond, commander of coalition forces in Baghdad, recently said: that leaving based on a timetable would be “very dangerous.”

The danger is that extremists supported by Al Qaeda and Iran could stage a comeback, as they have in the past when we’ve had too few troops in Iraq. Senator Obama seems to have learned nothing from recent history. I find it ironic that he is emulating the worst mistake of the Bush administration by waving the “Mission Accomplished” banner prematurely.

I am also dismayed that he never talks about winning the war—only of ending it. But if we don’t win the war, our enemies will. A triumph for the terrorists would be a disaster for us. That is something I will not allow to happen as president. Instead I will continue implementing a proven counterinsurgency strategy not only in Iraq but also in Afghanistan with the goal of creating stable, secure, self-sustaining democratic allies.

Full story linked here

Obama's mouthpiece Clark denigrates McCain's POW experience..

2008-07-10T17:58:00.000-04:00

Wesley Clark is just one more pathetic person doing Obama's dirty work by denigrating John McCain's 5 years as a POW of the communist North Vietnamese. That in itself is not too amazing because Clark has spent his entire post-military career shilling for various anti-military democrats like Bill Clinton, John Kerry and now of course Barack Obama. Make no mistake about it, Clark is more than happy to be Obama's saluting little surrogate. Clark is now Obama's messenger boy, happily spewing forth Obama's words like a marionette.

Previously, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) had the honor of being Obama's anti-military mouthpiece but now Clark has been promoted to that exalted position, at least for now.

The interesting thing here is that this whole episode is part of the Obama strategy to dismiss John McCain's military career as irrelevant to the Presidency. Obama has to do that to make up for own thin resume when it comes to military and national security issues. He is also using this episode to draw attention away from his lifetime of associations with radicals and radical causes.

The bigger picture is that Obama views the military with contempt. He views your service to America with contempt. The real message he is sending out is that he doesn't value your military service past or present, including those serving right now in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Who's afraid of John McCain??

2008-06-22T13:13:00.000-04:00

Barack Obama has two lists, the first list contains people he can't wait to talk to:

1) Iran's lunatic islamo-fascist dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. His qualifications include lying to the world about his "peaceful" nuclear energy program, frequently threatening US ally Israel with extinction, acquiring medium range missiles to threaten Europe with extinction, supplying Iraqi insurgents with weapons to kill Americans. But besides all that he's an all-around nice guy.

2) North Korea's lunatic communist dictator, Kim Jong Il. His qualifications include threatening US ally South Korea with extinction, lying to the world about his nuclear weapons program, developing medium and long range missiles to threaten the US and Japan with, and supplying dictator #1 with missiles.

The second list contains people he's afraid to talk to or debate in a town hall format or any other format where he's forced to give real unscripted answers to serious questions. This is list is so special it contains just one name in the whole wide world!:

1) John McCain. Republican Senator from Arizona. His disqualifications (in Obama's mind) include supporting our fight in Iraq, supporting our military during his entire career, understanding the deadly nature of threat from Iran and North Korea, realizing that Americans have the right to acquire our own domestic energy sources, and being proud of the United States of America. Besides all that John McCain has ruined many a day for Obama by actually criticizing him, something Obama is very very sensitive about.

Talk to the enemy?

2008-06-01T12:45:00.000-04:00

The Iranians and North Koreans would love to sit down over coffee with Obama. Why? Because they see in him a very naive, pliable president. Obama wants to talk because he's Obama. It's that simple. No forethought as to any potential catastrophic consequences for the United States even enters into his mind. Obama's candidacy is one large photo-op in front of his adoring American media. For Obama the substance of any talks would be secondary to the experience of the ultimate world-wide media photo-op that such an ill-advised journey would turn into. The interests of the U.S. are a mere distraction for Obama and the Democrats. The development of an Iranian nuclear bomb would just be a bad news day for Obama.

I'm also not buying the comparison of Reagan talking to the Soviets either. Big difference. The Soviets wanted to live. As bad as they were, they understood what a nuclear attack on the US would mean to them. It meant that they would be on the receiving end of our nuclear missiles.

The Iranians would be willing to die, or rather the Iranian leadership would be quite willing to sacrifice Iranian lives in a nuclear conflict.

Sometimes talking to the enemy does work. In 1945 President Truman through Generals Eisenhower and MacArthur, talked to Germany and Japan, telling them where to sign the surrender documents.

Rich Lowry column

If it's bad for America it's good for Obama.

2008-05-29T13:20:00.000-04:00

Progress in Iraq is bad news for Obama and the Democrats. U.S. Military successes anywhere in the world is bad news for Obama and the Democrats. Anything General Petraeus says is bad news for Obama and the Democrats. Anything good for the United States of America is bad for Obama and the Democrats.

"Now, Gen. David Petraeus, who currently leads US forces in Iraq but has been nominated to take over the entire US Central Command, says that things are going so well in Iraq that the US will be able to withdraw more troops from there in the fall. But this type of good news is bad news to Sen. Obama, and most Democrats.

Obama and his fellow Democrats are stuck in a time warp. The Democratic candidates - Hillary Clinton only slightly less so than Obama - have been counting on military and political failure in Iraq. When things started improving with the surge in US troops and the so-called Sunni Awakening last year, they couldn't retool their messages to take account of the improved situation."

It's bad enough that Obama and the Democrats are so dangerously invested in America failing in Iraq. I say dangerously because Obama is sending a clear messages to all those who would prey on any perceived American weakness, that he is willing to walk away from difficult military commitments for short-term political gain. I'm sure that message is being received loud and clear in Tehran, Pyongyang, Moscow and Beijing.

Linda Chavez column

Democrat Harkin: "McCain too military"

2008-05-25T12:34:00.000-04:00

Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) doesn't know when to shut up. But his big mouth tells us more about the way democrats really think about our military than any press release or their "support the troops" pieties. Only a liberal democrat like Harkin would make such an insulting statement a few days before Memorial Day.

Right from Harkin's mouth:

"I think he's trapped in that," Harkin said in a conference call with Iowa reporters. "Everything is looked at from his life experiences, from always having been in the military, and I think that can be pretty dangerous."

Harkin said that "it's one thing to have been drafted and served, but another thing when you come from generations of military people and that's just how you're steeped, how you've learned, how you've grown up."

He said that "I just want to be very clear there's nothing wrong with a career in the military" and that he has friends who are generals and admirals who have served the country well.

Aren't you glad that Tom Harkin thinks "there's nothing wrong with a career in the military". I bet our troops will sleep better tonight knowing that they have the Tom Harkin Seal of Approval.

I thank God every day for the US military!

Full story: Des Moines Register and Fox News

Iran's best friend, continued...

2008-05-21T15:50:00.000-04:00

Iran isn't going to go away as a national security issue in the 2008 election. John McCain continues to lead on this issue because he understands what is at stake here. An Iran with nukes would be a threat to the mideast region, Europe, and eventually the United States.

Obama's willingness to talk to the Iranians without pre-conditions is getting results. The result being that the Iranians have figured out that if he's elected they'll be able to sucker one more head of state into believing the "peaceful" intentions of their nuclear program. Why the Iranians are so peaceful that we shouldn't worry a bit that every aspect of their bogus "nuclear power" program is really a nuclear weapons program in a thinly-veiled disguise. Iran is enriching uranium and building heavy water plants, huge projects that have nothing to with generating electric power and everything to do with making atomic bombs.

The Iranians follow our election campaign, and they know they will have a friend in Obama-

"Obama's words on "preconditions" have helped ease domestic pressure on Ahmadinejad to comply with the United Nations and the IAEA. The Iranian president is telling his domestic critics to shut up until after the US election. Why, after all, should he make concessions that a putative President Obama has already dismissed as unnecessary?"

Amir Tehiri column here

Iran's best friend in America.

2008-05-18T15:32:00.000-04:00

Whether he knows it or not Barack Obama is Iran's best friend in America. I'm sure right now the mullahs are tuned into CNN with glee as Obama endlessly repeats his willingness to unconditionally have talks with their lovely dictator, the peace-loving Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Obama is willing to run to Tehran but he can't take a little criticism at home. He is unable to defend his position so he makes it all about him. The implication being that he is above criticism.

Even his fellow liberal Michael Goodwin sees through this pathetic charade-

"Bush's attack found the holes in Obama's national security credentials, which escaped scrutiny during his battle with Sen. Hillary Clinton. Beyond plans to withdraw troops from Iraq, neither Obama nor Clinton has articulated a serious plan for protecting America in a dangerous world.

Most revealing, Obama pledged to meet, without preconditions, with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea."

Even more telling is this-

"While it's clear Iran is behind much of the mayhem in Iraq, including the killing of American soldiers, Obama has said he wants to see the evidence compiled by the American military for those charges. Does he not believe the charges? Why not?

But instead of contacting the Pentagon for a briefing, he acts as though America is the problem and Iran deserves sympathy. Which was exactly Bush's point when he mocked the notion that talking to Hitler would have stopped World War II."

This is incredible but not surprising. Obama is telling us that he is more than willing willing to talk to the Iranian dictator but not our own military leaders. Obama is revealing his deep contempt for the American military by his actions. This is not the way a potential Commander In Chief behaves in front of the world, and in front of our enemies!

Michael Goodwin column linked here

McCain understands the growing threat from Iran.

2008-05-12T14:32:00.000-04:00

As evidenced by Hezbollah's Iranian-directed attacks in Lebanon, the Iranian problem is not just going to go away if we would only talk nice to them. John McCain is the only candidate who fully understands the seriousness of this threat and how critically important it is to the world that Iran never acquire nuclear weapons-

“Senator Obama wants to sit down with an Iranian leader who is dedicated to wiping Israel off the map — his words,” McCain told reporters on his campaign bus. “I don’t think we should give him that kind of prestige. “Senator Obama has obviously has no national security experience, and therefore that’s reflected in his judgment on a number of those issues.” McCain was referring to Obama’s comments that he would be willing to meet with leaders of rogue nations, such as Iran, North Korea and Cuba without conditions, an idea labeled naive and irresponsible by McCain.

Iran's worst-kept-secret of a nuclear weapons program shows that Iran understands that Europe's culture of endless negotiations is is buying the time for them to develop the ultimate weapon. Iran openly threatens Israel today. One day, probably sooner than we realize, Iranian nuclear-tipped missiles will be able to reach parts of Europe. Iranian long-range missiles will be capable of reaching the USA. Everyone in the world knows what Iran is really up to, except Barack Obama who can't wait to shake Ahmejinedad's hand.

Also read this excellent column on Iran’s Shifting Strategy.

Barack's Favorite radical.

2008-05-09T14:13:00.000-04:00

Radical William Ayres is a problem for Obama whether he knows it or not. It may play well in the elite circles that the Obamas frequent but the rest of us don't see it that way

Here Obama "explains" his relationship with Ayres:

Obama replied that Ayers "is a guy who lives in my neighborhood, who's a professor of English in Chicago, who I know and who I have not received some official endorsement from. He's not somebody who I exchange ideas from on a regular basis. And the notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago when I was 8 years old, somehow reflects on me and my values, doesn't make much sense...."

In other words because Obama was 8 years old when Ayres was blowing up buildings, that makes it just fine today. Oh but he's just a guy from Obama's neighborhood. Who else is Obama friends with?

Article here

Interview with Ayres here

McCains Navy Records Detail Commendations

2008-05-08T10:55:00.000-04:00

WASHINGTON — From his five years in a North Vietnamese prison camp to his tenure as the Navy’s liaison to the Senate, John McCain’s Navy record boils down to a series of unadorned paragraphs that bestow upon him some of the nation’s top military honors.

The Navy recently released McCain’s military record — most of it citations for medals during his Navy career — after a Freedom of Information Act request by The Associated Press.

McCain attended the U.S. Naval Academy from 1954 to 1958, and was commissioned as an ensign in June of that year. He retired in April 1981 with the rank of captain. In that time he received 17 awards and decorations. Besides the Silver Star Medal, McCain also received the Legion of Merit with a combat “V” and one gold star, a Distinguished Flying Cross and a Bronze Art Medal with a combat “V” and two gold stars.

Full Story Here

McCain: Iran's Influence on the Rise

2008-03-18T14:04:00.000-04:00

McCain: Iran's Influence on the Rise

By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
March 18, 2008

http://www.ap.org/

AMMAN, Jordan - Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting, expressed fresh concern Tuesday about Iran's influence in Iraq and rising sway in Mideast.

McCain, who has just completed his eighth visit to Iraq, said the U.S. military had just discovered a large new cache of "the most lethal" copper explosive devices there, and hinted the explosives had been provided by Iran.

McCain voiced concern that Tehran is bringing militants over the border into Iran for training before sending them back to fight U.S. troops in Iraq, and also blamed Syria for allegedly continuing to "expedite" a flow of foreign fighters.

"We continue to be concerned about Iranian influence and assistance to Hezbollah as well as Iranian pursuit of nuclear weapons," McCain said.

He added that, if elected president, he would coordinate better with Europe to impose a "broad range of sanctions and punishments" on Tehran, to "convince them that their activities, particularly development of nuclear weapons, is not a beneficial goal to seek."

McCain declined to comment on whether he could back an eventual decision to strike Iran if Tehran doesn't cease its nuclear activities.

In response to a question about possible U.S. strikes against Tehran, McCain only said: "At the end of the day, we cannot afford having a nuclear armed Iran."

He warned that any hasty pullout from Iraq would be a mistake that would favor Iran and al-Qaida.

"We continue to be very concerned about the Iranian influence in Iraq and in the region," McCain said.

McCain, who has linked his political future to U.S. success in Iraq, was in the wartorn country on Monday for meetings with Iraqi and U.S. diplomatic and military officials.

"We were very encouraged by the success of the surge and the reduction in U.S. casualties," McCain told reporters in Jordan, where he stopped on the next leg of a congressional visit that will also take him to Israel, Britain and France.

"We are succeeding, but we still have a long way to go," he warned. "Al-Qaida is on the run, they're not defeated."

A "major battle" remains to be fought to reclaim the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, he said, stating it was a success for the U.S. that Iraqi troops were now "taking the lead in that struggle" against al-Qaida.

Later Tuesday, McCain received a celebrity welcome in Jerusalem, beginning a two-day visit to Israel with a stop at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. As his motorcade pulled up dozens of tourists greeted him and chanted "Mac is back," as he shook their hands and posed for photographs.

His visit to Iraq was the Arizona senator's first since emerging as the presumed Republican nominee. He was accompanied by Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, an independent, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., two of his top supporters in the race for president.

He promised that, if elected president, he would uphold a long-term military commitment in Iraq as long as al-Qaida in Iraq is not defeated.

McCain, who is the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the trip to the Middle East and Europe was for fact-finding purposes, not a campaign photo opportunity.

He is expected to meet with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for the first time, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy for the third time. He met and corresponded with Sarkozy both before and after the French president was elected. They last saw each other last summer.

McCain has told U.S. reporters he worries that insurgents might try to influence the November presidential election by stepping up their attacks in Iraq.

McCain is a supporter of the 2003 invasion and President Bush's troop increase last year.
----
Associated Press Writer Dale Gavlak in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press

John McCain Visits Baghdad

2008-03-16T14:39:00.000-04:00

Iraq: McCain Visits Baghdad
March 16, 2008

BAGHDAD - Sen. John McCain, the likely Republican presidential nominee, was in Baghdad on Sunday for meetings with Iraqi and U.S. diplomatic and military officials, a U.S. government official said.

Details of McCain's visit, which had been anticipated, were not being released for security reasons, the U.S. Embassy said. It was unclear who he met with; no media opportunities or news conferences were planned.

McCain, a strong supporter of the U.S. military mission in Iraq, is believed to be staying in the country for about 24 hours.

"Senator McCain is in Iraq and will be meeting with Iraqi and U.S. officials," said Mirembe Nantongo, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

This is the senator's eighth visit to Iraq. He's accompanied by Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. Before leaving, McCain said the trip to the Middle East and Europe was a fact-finding venture, not a campaign photo opportunity.

The senator last met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki during the Thanksgiving holiday.

"We were informed that John McCain landed in Iraq Sunday morning. A meeting will take place with the Iraqi government," said Ali al-Moussawi, an official in the prime minister's office.

McCain was to meet Sunday with Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh. Later in the day, he and Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, were to talk. It also was thought McCain would meet with al-Maliki.

McCain's weeklong trip also includes stops in Israel, Jordan, Britain and France.

He is expected to meet with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for the first time, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy for the third time. He met and corresponded with Sarkozy both before and after the French president was elected. They last saw each other last summer.

McCain has relationships with every leader in Israel he plans to see, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and hawkish opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu.

McCain told U.S. reporters last week that he would be visiting Iraq, and expressed worries that insurgents might try to influence the November presidential election with increased attacks in Iraq.

"Yes, I worry about it," he said Friday in Springfield, Pa. "And I know they pay attention, because of the intercepts we have of their communications."

McCain told reporters later that al-Qaida remains smart and adaptable despite an increase of U.S. troops in Iraq.

A defiant supporter of the 2003 invasion and President Bush's troop increase last year, McCain is likely to focus in Iraq on the drop in sectarian violence and U.S. and civilian casualties since last summer.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

Support for war effort highest since 2006

2008-03-14T12:06:00.000-04:00

Support for war effort highest since 2006
By: David Paul Kuhn
March 13, 2008

Story Linked Here

American public support for the military effort in Iraq has reached a high point unseen since the summer of 2006, a development that promises to reshape the political landscape.

According to late February polling conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 53 percent of Americans — a slim majority — now believe “the U.S. will ultimately succeed in achieving its goals” in Iraq. That figure is up from 42 percent in September 2007.

The percentage of those who believe the war in Iraq is going “very well” or “fairly well” is also up, from 30 percent in February 2007 to 48 percent today.

The situation in Iraq remains fluid, of course. A surge in violence or in troop deaths could lead to rapid fluctuations in public opinion. But as the war nears its fifth year, the steady upturn in the public mood stands to alter the dynamics of races up and down the ballot.

The repercussions will be most acutely felt in the presidential contest. Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton remain committed to a staggered pullout, while Republican John McCain holds steadfast in his support for the Bush administration’s military surge.

In recent years, election results have tracked perceptions about the progress of the war in Iraq. The Democratic wave in the 2006 congressional elections correlated to a low point in the public’s view of the war. The resurgence of McCain’s candidacy also tracks the decrease in U.S. fatalities in Iraq. Monthly troop deaths have dropped by about two-thirds since the summer of 2007, according to Department of Defense records.

Democrats’ resolute support for the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces may soon position them at odds with independent voters, in particular, a constituency they need to retake the White House.

Half of self-identified independents polled now believe the United States should “keep troops in Iraq until the situation has stabilized,” according to polling data assembled by Pew at Politico’s request.

Senior foreign policy aides to Clinton and Obama said in interviews that their candidates have no intention of reconsidering their pledges to withdraw troops from Iraq, despite the waning of public opposition.

As recently as Tuesday in Harrisburg, Pa., Clinton reiterated her pledge to “end the war in Iraq and bring our troops home.” She added, as she has for months, that she would “carefully and responsibly” start the withdrawal of those troops within 60 days of taking office.

“There is no military solution,” Clinton is prone to say, a sentiment echoed by Obama. Obama has also proposed an end date for “removing all combat brigades” from Iraq.

The uptick in public support is a promising sign for Republican candidates who have been bludgeoned over the Bush administration’s war policies. But no candidate stands to gain more than McCain.

“How could Democrats possibly hand McCain a better issue than to let him run on his record of advocating a robust U.S. presence in Iraq with all the positive battlefield news that is filtering out of that country?” asked Michael O’Hanlon, a national security adviser at the Brookings Institution who has been at the center of the Iraq debate since the war’s outset.

“Thinking about where we were at the time of the congressional elections, it’s ironic that the Iraq issue could actually be the one that most favors the Republican and most other issues — including most foreign policy issues — could most favor the Democrats,” O’Hanlon added. “Yet Democrats keep wanting to fight the Iraq debate.”

The positions taken by Obama and Clinton reflect the majority sentiment in their party: Seven in 10 Democrats continue to believe the war in Iraq is going poorly. Only about a quarter of Democrats support maintaining troop levels until “the situation has stabilized,” according to Pew polling data.

Views of the war in Iraq have long varied depending upon party affiliation, unlike during the Vietnam War. Although even Democratic discontent has ebbed for the first time in more than a year — 29 percent now support keeping troops in, an increase of 8 percentage points since last summer — foreign policy advisers to both candidates dispute the idea that Democrats are in the unenviable position of disagreeing with the majority of Americans over whether the war in Iraq can succeed.

“We have seen at great cost here that the surge has resulted in a reduction of violence. That’s indisputable,” said a top Obama foreign policy adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “But we have not seen any of the political progress that will be necessary to have that long-term stability.

“[Obama] believes the best way to induce change is to have this strategic redeployment,” the adviser added.

While Democrats increasingly constitute the bulk of voters who support the withdrawal of troops, the public shift of opinion overall has been dramatic. As many voters now believe that the war is going “well” as “not well” — 48 percent each, according to Pew.

Pew also found that 49 percent favor bringing the troops home as soon as possible, while 47 percent say the troops should stay in until the situation stabilizes — statistical parity between the two positions.

Late February polling conducted by CBS News has also shown that the public view of the war is better than at any point since August 2006. CBS recently found that 43 percent of the country believes the war is going “well” — less than Pew found but still double the level of last June.

Democrats remain in step with the public mood on the question of the decision to go to war. Pew and CBS have found that a majority of Americans, including independents, continue to believe that the choice to wage war with Iraq was “wrong” — a figure that has held for years.

McCain is betting, however, that the public will view the war through a forward-looking lens. For months, he has argued that Democrats intend to “retreat” in Iraq and ensure failure.

The public may soon come to view that as “a correct narrative,” said O’Hanlon, a Democrat whose views on the war have made him the bête noire of many in the anti-war liberal base.

Perhaps as a result of the uptick in support for the war or his own military record, McCain is well-positioned to retake the party’s traditional advantage on national security issues.

Almost half of registered voters now believe it is “very likely” that McCain would be an “effective commander in chief,” according to CBS polling. Less than one-quarter said the same of Obama and Clinton.

In addition, CBS found that a clear majority of Americans were “confident” that McCain could “handle an international crisis” — 56 percent said so for McCain, 47 percent for Obama and only 39 percent for Clinton.

The McCain campaign has signaled plans to continue highlighting his differences with Democrats over Iraq policy. Meanwhile, Democrats plan to continue to frame McCain as a central player in the president’s Iraq policy who is likely to continue in the same direction.

“Sen. McCain is clearly going to try to depict the Democrat, whoever it is, as cut and run,” the Clinton adviser said. “And Sen. Clinton, or whoever is the Democratic nominee, is clearly going to try to depict Sen. McCain as one who would stay there for centuries.”

For the time being, however, McCain can claim that roughly half of the public does not support a troop withdrawal — a first since the 2008 presidential race began.

TM & © THE POLITICO & POLITICO.COM, a division of Allbritton Communications Company

Obama Aide: Neither Candidate Ready for 3 a.m. Call

2008-03-06T18:31:00.000-05:00

This is too good to be true!. Even the democrats know their own candidates are weak on national security.

Obama Aide: Neither Candidate Ready for 3 a.m. Call
By Kate Phillips
NYT 03/06/2008

Susan Rice, a foreign policy adviser to Senator Barack Obama, discusses the foreign policy credentials of both Democrats against the tableau of Mrs. Clinton’s 3 a.m. phone call advertisement about who would be best prepared for an international crisis. (While your children are safely asleep.)

Mr. Carlson: So Hillary Clinton runs this ad, the famous red phone ad, that says when the phone rings at 3 o’clock in the morning, you know, who do you trust to make those snap decisions that could hold all of our lives in the balance? And the Obama campaign, I thought very wisely, came back and said, name one that you — you know name a situation where you’ve judged a foreign policy crisis, and she couldn’t.
I’m going to ask the same question to you. Where has — Barack Obama been in a position where he has to make those kinds of decisions?

Ms. Rice: He hasn’t and he hasn’t claimed that he’s been in a position to have to answer the phone at 3 o’clock in the morning in a crisis situation. That’s the difference between the two of them. Hillary Clinton hasn’t had to answer the phone at 3 o’clock in the morning. And yet she attacked Barack Obama for not being ready. They’re both not ready to have that 3:00 a.m. phone call. The question is and what Barack Obama raised is, when that phone call is received for each of them for the first time, who’s going to make the right judgment? Who is going to make the right decision? So neither one of them have had that 3 o’clock phone call that others have had. And I think we have to be honest about that.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/06/obama-aide-neither-candidate-ready-for-3-am-call/

The Case for McCain

2008-02-11T13:34:00.000-05:00

The Case for McCain
By Lawrence Kudlow
Saturday, February 9, 2008

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/LawrenceKudlow/2008/02/09/the_case_for_mccain

Some things in life are quite simple. Here’s one of them: Sen. John McCain is going to be our next president.

How do I know?

For starters, McCain will have a unified Republican party -- conservatives and all -- working hard for him. He’s also going to win over the Reagan Democrats, the Bush Democrats, and the Perot independents. These folks demand a strong military, want government off their backs, and are sick and tired of growing federal deficits and out-of-control spending. McCain’s their man.

If you recall, it was the cross-over Democrats and independents who helped elect Ronald Reagan twice and put Papa Bush in office for what was expected to be a Reagan third-term. When Papa Bush waffled, they went to Perot. But they came back to support the Gingrich Congress and later stayed with George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004. In 2006 they walked away again, penalizing a GOP Congress that embraced heavy spending and corrupt earmarks. But now they’ll come back. McCain is tailor-made for this group.

Just think of McCain in a debate versus Hillary or Obama. Remember McCain’s zinger about Hillary’s $1,000,000 earmark for a Woodstock Hall of Fame museum? He said he didn’t know much about Woodstock because he was “tied up at the time.” It was a killer line and we’ll hear it again.

McCain is also good news for business and the stock market. He wants to cut the corporate tax and keep dividend and cap-gains tax rates low. He’s tough as nails on restraining government spending and blowing up earmarks. On top of all this, he’s a very strong free trader who knows America can compete with the rest of the world.

Stock market fears about a new wave of tax hikes should be put aside. It ain’t gonna happen after McCain is sworn in. Neither will protectionism. So far as I can tell, high taxes and diminished free trade are the biggest worries for business and stocks. Investors can cast their fears aside.

This also happens to be a good time for the GOP to nominate someone who served bravely and courageously in the military. McCain is much more than a POW who somehow survived the Hanoi Hilton. He is a true military man. It flows through his veins, posing a whopper of a problem for Hillary or Obama. Guaranteed, there will be no chicken-hawk taunts.

And let’s not forget that military leaders who know all about war, security, and defense are exactly the people who cherish peace the most. When John McCain talks about the global terror war and how to deal with it, and how to protect this country, and how to move toward peace, voters will listen. So will folks around the world. This is all part of McCain’s character.

A short while back, I heard former Bush chief of staff Andy Card give an engaging talk at an Awakening conference in Sea Island Georgia. Card asked: What’s the most important character trait for a successful president? And he answered: The courage to be lonely. In other words, the guts to make tough decisions. Not poll-driven, politically driven, or selfish decisions, but decisions made on the basis of what is right and what is wrong and what is best for America.

McCain is no flip-flopper. Just think about his stance against ethanol subsidies in Iowa and federal hurricane insurance in Florida. (And Florida’s Gov. Crist still supported him!) Think of his duty-honor-loyalty persona, to borrow from my friend Kim Strassel of the Wall Street Journal. Duty-honor-loyalty is part of the American military code of conduct. In this most important sense, McCain is a profoundly conservative man. When he makes a promise, he keeps it.

And don’t forget his resiliency, consistency, and backbone. Here was a man moving around the country, without money and resources. He remained resolute on winning in Iraq, on the surge, and on the need to prevail abroad if we are to remain safe at home. Democrats were talking defeat. Republicans were hardly talking at all. But McCain soldiered on. Armed with courage, strength, and character, he kept his eyes on the prize. This may be the greatest political comeback in presidential history.

One of the troubles with American politics nowadays is that we don’t appreciate our military men and women enough. We don’t value their intelligence, their fitness, or their values. There was a time in American history -- especially in the 19th century -- when we held the military in great esteem. George Washington, of course, was one of our bravest generals, blessed with uncommon character and strength. Well, John McCain is a descendant of George Washington, and is a foot solder in his army. America yearns for exactly that kind of foot soldier. That’s why he’s gonna win.

Lawrence Kudlow is host of CNBC's Kudlow & Company

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Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton endorses John McCain!

2008-02-11T12:56:00.000-05:00

Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton endorses John McCain!

Story Link: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1967349/posts

Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton made news today at the Conservative Political Action Conference by announcing his support for the likely Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain. Bolton is very highly regarded by conservatives for his tenure at the U.N. and for his willingness to combat the policies of the State Department, where Bolton was once an assistant Secretary of State for arms proliferation. His assessment of Sen. McCain could carry great weight among conservatives who believe that national security and the war on terror are the most important issues in the upcoming presidential election campaign.

Bolton did not endorse McCain outright, but he gave a strong defense of McCain and his positions on national security. Bolton told the assembled delegates that the state of affairs in the world required that the next president be "ready on day one" to handle national security challenges.

In his State Department post, Bolton ran the Bush Administration's Proliferation Security Initiative and oversaw the United States' efforts to prevent weapons of mass destruction from falling into the hands of rogue governments worldwide. He was so successful in the program and in getting other nations to sign on the project, that President Bush nominated him for the U.N. Ambassadorship in the summer of 2004. Bolton was vigorously opposed by Democrats and moderate Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Ultimately, he was given a recess appointment by the president when it became clear that his nomination would not be confirmed in the full Senate.

Bolton revealed for the first time in his CPAC address that Sen. McCain was very active behind the scenes in trying to secure his confirmation in the Senate. Bolton said that to his knowledge, McCain had never spoken publicly of his role in trying to secure confirmation for the controversial nominee; and suggested that it was a measure of McCain's character that he was willing to vote for and work for Bolton's confirmation in the face of very difficult opposition.

Bolton said that he appreciated Sen. McCain's positions with respect to Iran's nuclear program, calling them stronger than the Bush Administration position. He remarked that Iran and North Korea's illicit nuclear weapons programs are the greatest national security threats to the United States. Bolton suggested that McCain is the candidate best prepared to handle these challenges.

Bolton concluded his comments on the presidential race by making a surprise comparison of conservatives wary of supporting McCain to Vladimir Lenin. He said that those conservatives who would rather see a Democrat elected than support McCain are essentially espousing the former Soviet revolutionary's axiom "Worse is better." Bolton said that conservatives should realize that their failure to support McCain for president would lead to the election of a president they would consider far worse. "I will be supporting John McCain for president, and I hope you will too," he told the conference.

Bolton's support should help sway some of the conference attendees to McCain's side. His speech was presented to a packed ballroom and was very well received. It was an unexpected development that Bolton threw his considerable foreign policy and conservative credentials behind McCain. He will need several more unexpected developments like this if his campaign is to begin to gain traction among the conservative base of the Republican Party.

Active Military for McCain

2008-02-11T10:11:00.001-05:00

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