McCain Camp "Frustrated" With Obama's Trip: Reports

Is John McCain frustrated, or maybe a little of jealous, of Obama's headline grabbing trip? Looks like all signs point to yes as Iraq's Prime Minister gives new confidence to Obama's withdrawal plan, Bloomberg News says "Middle Eastern and European leaders are lining up to hear what Barack Obama has to say," and General Petraeus gave photographers fresh photo-ops with the Democratic leader.

ABC Anchor George Stephanopoulos told Good Morning America Tuesday, "They are frustrated in the McCain camp." McCain and former President Bush tried to laugh-off being jealous during a news conference yesterday at the Bush compound in Maine.

Sen. John McCain and former President George H.W. Bush laughed off questions about the size and scale of Sen. Barack Obama's anticipated events in Europe, after the Democratic contender concludes a tour of the Middle East including Iraq and Afghanistan, but the truth wasn't far from the surface.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., laughed off concerns that he is "jealous" of the attention Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., is getting on his world tour but the McCain camp is considering a "surprise" that may steal the spotlight from his rival.

"We're jealous is all," the former president told reporters on Monday outside the Bush family home in Maine.

CNN's Dana Bash details John McCain's plan to take take some of the spotlight off Obama while the nation's press corps follow him around half way across the world.

McCain is expected to slam Obama's position on Iraq ahead of a town hall in Rochester, New Hampshire, on Tuesday...

... Shrugging off the attention surrounding Obama's trip, the McCain campaign is doing what it can to keep their rival from using the trip to burnish his foreign policy credentials.

There are numerous reports that McCain might try to steal Obama's fire by announcing his VP pick this week.

McCain campaign sources confirm to CNN that there have been discussions high in the campaign about naming a running mate this week. They also say that, whether or not the announcement is made, the choices have been "narrowed" to the point where McCain could make a decision that soon.

HuffPost's Nico Pitney has more.

Comments

[Amalek]

I'd love to play poker with McCain.

He goes all in with a short stack on a 2 7 offsuit and he is surprised when he is called and shocked when he is beat.

[MoeSart]

The media backlash on Obama for this is going to be HUGE. No one gets positive coverage forever.

The media are hearing criticism on the media for this love-in, too. They're going to be pressured into proving they are not in the bag for Obama, even though most of them are.

[elkabong]

Why do cons always go for the underachievers?

[BWonka]

So they have someone to look up to!

[ErnestineBass]

Maroons are easy to bamboozle.

[ErnestineBass]

And yet, boys and girls, there are those among us who will claim to have experienced an EPIPHANY..­. oh, Lawdy, YASSUH, DESERTLIGHT has seen the LIGHT...ha­rrumph.

[DesertLight]

This one didn't.

[BabsfromKS]

Bless your heart, I am so sorry you're an underachiever.

[CaptainZero1969]

790 of 795 in his class.

[Nochnoi]

They match the Underroos.­......

[VolvoBirkenstock]

Like attracts like.

[haleywins]

Stealing thunder?

Let's go, what.. Mitt for VP? Stand Mitt next to McSame, what a sight. Crist with McSame, 2 old white headed white guys, another sight. Pawlenty with McSame? Again, the old man with the young guy. Unless it is "JC" returned and standing next to McSame, they ain't stealin' no thunder.

[suzyhein]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/_114277.html

I literally cannot believe my eyes here. Is this their idea of a smear? They really don't know what the F to do. I mean, i am stunned. Showing clips of 25 people talking about how great O is. I'm not an ad person but...agai­n...stunne­d.

[dentuso]

Well, at least we found out that Ma rk Pe nn gained employment again.

[ZHarris]

Heh, that cracks me up, too.

He's popular, he's popular! It's not fair! sniff

[Jessegirl]

So McCain is greeted by ONE reporter in Manchester­....

I t probably was a CNN reporter asking John how having a black president will hurt other black people AND how black people hurt other black people by voting.

[EggsBolinski]

Now that everyone is in agreement that the Surge is working, McCain should start talking about getting out of Iraq with honor, unlike Obama who just wants to get out.

[BWonka]

So let me see if I've got this right:

McBu$h, who says he is a maverick and not at all like Bu$h, shows up beside the first failed Bu$h (he of 1 term "It's the economy, stupid") to try and steal Sen. O's thunder? After admitting he knows little about the economy he stands next to the guy who LOST because of the economy?

This isn't a Maverick - it is a Pinto with 4 flat tires and an empty gas tank.

[Flagal]

Read my lips

[BWonka]

If papa Bu$h moved his lips, his teeth would fall out.

[ZHarris]

You can fix a Pinto

[ErnestineBass]

Though the parts are hard to come by...

[BWonka]

Only with parts from a junkyard.

[dentuso]

You can also fix a dog, but just because it had tags doesn't mean it's qualified to be Prez.

[Nochnoi]

It might add a bit of bang to the campaign if they filled that gas tank......­....

[dentuso]

I will admit that if nothing else, Booosh Sr. looks fairly good by comparison.

[ThunderclapNewman]

So doe bubonic plague.

[ErnestineBass]

Pickled.

[ebanks84]

Oh, cry me a river and go jump in it.

[Nochnoi]

LOL..... Moral of the story.... Don't dare someone to do something if you are not going to like the outcome if they actually do it.......

His maverickness stands NO chance after this......­... Apparently the whole world had decided, including us, and greets O like he already won.... which is fine by me!

[dentuso]

Yup. Pretty stupid.

It would be much like me daring Tom Brady to sleep with my wife.

....and I was expecting.­.. what to happen?

[Nochnoi]

Exactly!

[Flagal]

a baby?

[BWonka]

Can't wait to see his reception in Berlin, while McBu$h attends the incontinence convention in Depends, Ala.

[BabsfromKS]

It's like a global Lollapalooza tour!

[BabsfromKS]

"A recent poll in En gland found 70% of Itali ans, 67% of Germ ans, 65% of the Fre nch and 49% of Brito ns would vote for O bam a. Compare that to Re publi can Jo hn McC ain, who gets support from 15% of Itali ans, 6% of Germ ans, 8% of the Fre nch and 14% in Brita in."

[OhMy]

Um, who give a Sh*t? Since when does forgin public opinion elect our leaders?

[Nochnoi]

It is has been pretty apparent that O is pretty much the prez every one all over the world wants.....­. How nice that will be... to see O greeted by happy crowds of people instead of protesters against boooosh...­.. Americans will no longer have to pretend to be Canadians when going to other countries.­.. and we can all take the Canadian flags off our backpacks and replace them once again with American flags.....­.......

[KQuarksSuperKollider]

Tr0lls I dare you to watch this video and see McBush's real voting record to "support" veterans. I know you are too chickenshite to watch the video but the truth is the tr0lls worse enemy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m30GlZCICg

[EggsBolinski]

You really do live in a parallel universe. Hope you don't have children.

[WLA]

Oh, go boil your head again, McMuffin.

[ErnestineBass]

Are you really so niave to believe that the rich man who sends poor men to war give a rat's patootie about them once they've served?

The rich look at the poor as expendable. Are you really so stoopid you can't see this?

[BWonka]

Hey Humpty - you're cracked and leaking. Just like McLoser!!

[EggsBolinski]

I take back the part about children.

[wmg57]

Good video. He really has put the boot to veterans and future veterans alike. As for the poor slobs who don't get to become veterans because they're dead, well he doesn't seem to give a toss for them either. Of course he is a veteran who had no need of assistance. Lucky him. That seems to be the raison d'etre of the whole right wing. I'm all right Jack. It boils my backside to see him supposedly representing the military. It's like the top brass at GM trying to display empathy for the "grunts" who do the work. Hypocracy taken to epic proportions.

[DesertLight]

I don't need to watch it. 18 yrs in AZ is quite enough for me. His political career should have ended with Ke@ting five. He isn't Boosh III. He's even more dangerous. And I am a neo. Go figure!

[VolvoBirkenstock]

Yep. We know you are Neo.

[CaptainZero1969]

Thanks for the public service announcement.

[truth2008]

Great video!

[Dannydel]

Leaders are lining up to hear what O has to say.
They already know what McPatton is thinking: "My friends, I know the answer to everything­...I can't quite put my finger on it, but riddle me this...who are you gonna trust, a Harvard grad, or a guy who graduated in the bottom 1% of his class AND crashed 5 airplanes? The answer is simple my friends, that other guy talks a good game, but I am the real deal when it comes to kicking butt against the terrorists, who by the way, are EVERYWHERE!"

[DesertLight]

that other guy talks a good game

Oh, really? Have you ever seen one of his Town Hall meetings? Those people look like they are watching paint dry. The rest of them look like they OD'd on Z@nex.

[StillIRise]

I've noticed that too DesertLight. His audience looks like someone paid them to sit there and they're considering giving the money back! Half of them look like they'd rather be anywhere else, and the other half look like they're not sure where they are or why they're there!

[Peteyman]

Considering that Patton could give a good speech, not a very good comparison­....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u7qswjJEA4

[dentuso]

Fantastic.

The NY Times decision to not publish McGoo's editorial has him whining and it's backfiring - big. Just hit the mainstream, finally.

In effect, they Times' Shipley has basically said that the response, in fairness, would explain the difference between O's and McGoo's positions in Iraq, but McGoo wouldn't give us any plans on what we should do in Iraq. Basically, it was whining about not printing an editorial that shows the differences in plans, without actually having a plan.

Nice job, McGoo.

[KQuarksSuperKollider]

McBush's plan in and always was to stay in Iraq to start a war with Iran.

[dentuso]

With Iran out, Iraq will border Pakistan. He's not an idiot. He's a prophet!!!

[robodweeb]

Images:

B a r a c k making a three-pointer with the troops

McClone arriving in a golf cart with an aging GHWB both of them looking much like Tim Conway on the old Carol Burnett Show

[MPeter]

MCBush frustrated? Here is Mr. Ugyar(sp?) of TYT deconstructing his performance. It is hillarious and right on the money. http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/McCain_Goes_On_Today_Show_Gets_Clobbered_by_Vieira

[dentuso]

I had visions of the private box at the Muppet Show Theater.

[Nochnoi]

Hahahah...­..

[ZHarris]

It looked like a competition to see who could struggle to get up first out of the golf cart...

[KQuarksSuperKollider]

Was Mrs. Zwiggen's there too.

[CocteausTwin]

McDorf

[bar1ed]

i think what the real frustration of the McCain camp is that the American voter is ready for a change. A change from all the lies, a change from all the failed policies, and a change from looking like fools to the rest of the world. I know that a lot of posters might think, " the hell with what the rest of the world thinks ", but the last time i looked, we all share the same planet. If we are truly seeking peace on earth, then we all have to work together. No one nation can do it alone. It may not be perfect all the time, but its a lot better than the way things are going now. The McCain camp seems to have their heads in the sand. That is not courageous. There comes a time in everyone's life when you say to yourself " this is not working ". You look for a turning point, you re-tool, you set a new plan, and you forge ahead. To stand still with your fingers crossed is not the answer, its not the solution to your problems, to stay in a state of denial is a sign of failure. This Country has always been about change. To stop now could be our down fall.

[LarsGruber]

We've learned from the cheering military on Obama's trip is that soldiers don't appreciate being sent to wars based on lies.

go figya!