Sunday Pundits Allude To Coming False Obama 'Flip-Flop' Accusation

So, where is the angry and unhinged right poised to mount their next attack on Obama? Obviously, it won't be on an economic issue - Obama is running strongest on the domestic economy and the likelihood of John McCain, who's been trying to sell "I don't know much about the economy" as folksy and the "psychological effects" of offshore drilling as a real-world solution, getting back in the race on the economy just isn't in the cards.

No, the next big offensive against Obama is going to come on the Iraq war front. Obama has recently announced his intent to visit Iraq to take stock in the conditions on the ground, and the GOP has already come up with a plan: when Obama returns from Iraq, the position he has taken on withdrawal for these many months of the Democratic primary - in which we extricate ourselves gradually and carefully in a sixteen month process - will be sold as a new idea, a tack toward the Bush/McCain policy of eternal war and a flip-flop on his current stand.

On this morning's Fox News Sunday, Bill Kristol set the stage for this bit of subterfuge, saying:

KRISTOL: The voters tend not to punish political leaders for adjusting their views especially if they come towards the voters. The next big flip for Obama, this will make Brit even more astonished, will be on Iraq. He's going to go to Iraq, meet with General Petraeus, decide the "Surge" is working and walk back from his immediate, unconditional withdrawal. Suddenly it's going to be, well...we're going to be very careful...gradual, honorable withdrawal - Obama said the other day, an honorable conclusion to the Iraq war.

[WATCH.]

See what's going on there? Kristol is setting up this long con, in which the candidate who rather masterfully questioned Petraeus the last time the two met in hearings, goes to Iraq, gets seduced by the general and becomes a fan of the Surge, and suddenly starts waffling on his promises to end the war, substituting an "immediate" withdrawal with a "gradual" one...an "unconditional" withdrawal with one that's "honorable." Of course, Obama has never said the withdrawal would be anything but gradual and honorable, but the GOP is counting on voters falling for this ruse and believing it to be another chapter in their flip-flop fable.

And if you are looking for a pattern of incidence, look no further. Kristol's set-up on Fox was echoed on ABC's This Week - though less artfully - by Hugh Hewitt, who tells an outright lie about Obama's previous withdrawal plan so that it can later appear that his consistently-stated position is a flip-flop. As you watch this clip, look for the moment that Hewitt attempts to establish Obama's withdrawal plan as a "six-month" plan, instead of the sixteen-month plan he's been advocating for months. Fortunately, Arianna and Katrina VandenHeuvel were in the room, and they immediately put the hammer down on Hewitt's prevarications.

[WATCH.]

The tendency of the desperate right to attempt to capture Obama's consistently held positions as sudden flip-flops has been seen outside the Iraq War issue as well. In a recent preview for Fortune's interview with Obama, writer Nina Easton attempted the same piece of trickery, presenting Obama's well-known stance on NAFTA as a sudden and pandering change of heart, even though the record demonstrated no change in position. Watch for similar attempts to be made in the run up to and the conclusion of Obama's trip to Iraq.

Comments

[Moxo]

It saddens me that network pundits and most newspaper reporters now have a worse reputation than used-car salesmen.

[meltingpot101]

The GOP has also done that in regards to Obama's energy policy. Obama has always said that nuclear power would have to be part of the solution. The GOP has said that Obama's position has changed on nuclear.

They are trying to frame him as a Flip-Flopper becouse that is how they beat Kerry in 2004 and also because McCain has Flip-Flopped on many issues.

[aperezfl]

So you know, conservatives are continuing the push to distort Obama's position on the war, again, today. Read Jonathan Martin's blatant distortion: http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0608/Tomorrows_Obama_flop_today.html#comments

He even cites Bill Kristol!!!

"The next, and perhaps most significant, Obama move to the middle could be on the issue which initially sparked his campaign: Iraq.

Observers from the Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol to George Packer, the New Yorker writer and author of 'The Assassins Gate' can already see it coming."

This guy works for the Politico -- he should definitely know better.

[DMW1]

Why isn't the mainstream media reporting about the CLCs. Sinced May 2007 - right around the time the "surge" started working - the U.S. government has been paying former Iraqi insurgenets $10 per man per day to be our paid temporary allies. They call them Concerned Local Citizens.

So there are 70,000 former insurgents, including fighters for al-Qaida in Iraq, that used to try and kill our soldiers now being paid as our allies to not shoot at us.

Read the facts:
http://www.stopthinkvote.com/facts/militaryfacts.html

Third item from the bottom titled "The Surge or Bribery: What's Really Working?"

[paulbikes]

Suddenly MSM isn't even that moderate and FOX is as ridiculous as ever...

Hannity and Kristol shouldn't be allowed to have such a box to stand on.

[robynuva]

Remember waht Colbert said about Bush: "When the president decides something on Monday, he still believes it on Wednesday -- no matter what happened Tuesday."

Is that what we want again?

And please remember, O is not the "liberal" the MSM says. His "change" is to fix the stupid way things are done in DC, where the desire to win and be "right" is more important than the need to accomplish something. Sen. O understands that change is incremental.

[paulbikes]

What? The Grand Olde Party lies to make B O look bad? No way. I dont believe it.

[Dailyfare]

Every day on the campaign trail Senator Obama has said that we need to be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless going in. Reasonable people will hear that statement and understand that he's not going to pull out troops No Matter What. Reality is that conditions on the ground could change at any time. Barack Obama will do what's necessary - even if it means keeping combat troops in Iraq longer than he's anticipated.

[Lautenberg]

Do a McCain Flip flop commercial. It will have to be 20 minutes long..

[paulbikes]

20 minutes +

[KQuarksSuperKollider]

McBush's newest flip flop is a prime example and one of his worse.

McBush did not bother to show up and vote for the new GI Bill but expressed his opposition to the bill. Then he said he did support the new GI Bill (major flip flop). Then McBush kept on pounding on 0bama that he did not support the troops because he said 0bama was not going to vote for the Iraq and Afghanistan war funding. Then the Iraq and Afghanistan war funding was tied to the new GI Bill. Obama came back to vote for the Bill and McBush was AWOL when it came to showing up and voting for the final bill. The press does not even report the flip flop or the fact that McBush broke his word and did not even show up to vote. The only other senator that did not vote was Teddy Kennedy for obvious reasons. If McBush wins this election it will be because the media is far from doing it's job.

[SwingVoter]

Check out this WaPo link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/opinions/cartoonsandvideos/telnaes/telnaes_main.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

[Zhonni]

Nice link.

[SwingVoter]

Obama vs. McCain flip flops: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/opinions/cartoonsandvideos/telnaes/telnaes_main.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

[Raymondf]

Tells me nothing.

[SanityClaus]

Do you need someone to read it to you?

[Countdown09]

The media's all over any hint that Obama may be playing in the middle and shifting a position or two. All the while McCain has made MAJOR shifts in his positions with little to no attention by the media.

[rollingdivision]

Major McCain shifts, could you list a some.

[AERO]

It has always been the Rove master play to accuse the opponent what you are guilty of to direct the attention away from yourself. McCain seems to be going for the Guiness World record for flip flopping. Obama is way too smart for them.

[wanj]

Obama in my books is too smart for republicans... They just won't know what hit them come november when he beats McSame! This country will be so blue they'll take centuries to turn it red. This BS they're working on in the MSM about flip flopping when their candidate changes his mind every micro second will blow up in their face.

Let's hit the pavement people and get those unregistered people to register. It will be time well spent, afterall it's our futures we're talking about here. As well as our children's!

Obama '08