McCain Camp Confused on Iraq

Phrase du Jour: "Total confusion"

In a press call yesterday -- posted for all to hear at OffTheBus's Listening Post -- McCain foreign policy guru Randy Scheunemann spoke out against Obama counterpart Claire McCaskill's egregious assertion that any responsible commander in chief would be flexible in determining a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.

Apparently, the concept that the "situation on the ground" in Iraq could maybe change between now and next year's inauguration was too nuanced for Scheunemann to grasp. Worse than his own state of "total confusion," however, were his attempts to attribute the same degree of befuddlement to "the American people."

"What's puzzling is Sen. Obama's position [on Iraq]. I think the American people are puzzled about where he is. There's nothing less than total confusion about where Sen. Obama is on the issue of Iraq, and about where he has been over the course of the past several years. In 2002 he spoke out against the war, yet in July 2004 he said he had the same position as President Bush. In august 2004, he said clearly he was against an artificial timetable. In 2005, he voted for funding the war in Iraq, he said it would be wrong to cut off troops in the field..."

Scheunemann draws a portrait of an electorate incapable of understanding the very basic fact that the process of ending a disastrous five-year-long deeply unpopular military occupation will be complex -- full of twists and turns and unexpected setbacks and reassessments. Scheunemann picks through six years of Obama's words and cites a handful of supposedly contradictory positions, entirely out of context. He dumbs down the dialogue about the issues. He dumbs down the dialogue about voters. Either he thinks "the American people" are already stupid or he thinks that he can make them so by talking to and about them as if they are.

But it isn't inconsistency or flip-flopping to acknowledge that a previously held view no longer appropriately addresses the present reality, or that a presently held view might not appropriately address a future one. It's also not naivete. It's not even that confusing. On the contrary, it showcases the sort of measured thinking and speaking we need to acknowledge as the path to more fruitful political engagement -- both domestic and abroad.

Comments

[MYQUEEN7]

You only need to pay attention. Do your research. Listen to the candidate, not the surrogates. Most definitely, do not listen to the many biased mainstream media pundits.
If you do this, there really is only ONE clear choice as to which of these candidates has the skill, knowledge, and judgement to be President of the United States and Commander in Chief.
Make an educated decision.

[4President]

The number one issue in this years election is not the Economy, nor is it National Security, the War on Terror or in Iraq. The number one issue will be the American electorates intelligence, rather the stupidity of the electorate.

Neither the Administration, John McCain or the RNC is able to articulate a cogent explanation of why we are still in Iraq, how the surge is considered a success, what plans it has for ending such a successful war, or how they plan to proceed in Afghanistan. Yet, some are considering, what is in all fairness, an extension of Bush's policies for four more years.

[schicklett3]

John McCain, and his allies, are the ones confused about Iraq (and Afghanistan). They're clueless. Period.

[MissingAmerica]

Even some of the GOP are waking up to the madness and the lies. Let us hope that today's House vote will help clarify the Iraq war issue for Scheunemann and the others in McCain's camp.