Finally, A Welcome Debate
While Obama hasn't quite locked up the Democrat nomination, I believe liberals and Democrats will be rather surprised at how gladly the Right will embrace an honest debate on Iraq between Obama and McCain. Obama doesn't fully appreciate what he's walking into here.
To begin with, he's stuck with the position of running down a war in which our military is currently engaged. That defeatism takes more than simply a rhetorical flourish from a gifted speaker to pull off, once they are addressing people outside the Democrat base. In a debate extended over a Fall campaign, McCain also has the ability to remind people of the true lay of the land circa 2003, when Saddam was ignoring every sanction and profiting from a corrupt UN Oil for Food program.
An accurate history does not reveal Obama to possess some special gift of judgment. It reveals him to be weak on National Defense, with a willingness to give tyrants too much slack, a prospect in a potential POTUS made all the more troubling in an increasingly nuclear powered world. From comments at The Politico (link above) the Left can't wait for this debate to take place. I think the Right will be glad to have it, as well - and the Left may just find themselves surprised to learn how the American people, as opposed to only liberals and the mainstream press, really feel about winning in Iraq.
Obama departed from his regular stump speech today in Columbus to respond to John McCain.
"John McCain may like to say he wants to follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of Hell, but so far all he’s done is follow George Bush into a misguided war in Iraq," he said.
Obama was responding, incredulously, to McCain's suggestion that he's unaware of the presence of Al Qaeda in Iraq, which the Arizona Senator said earlier today was apparently "news" to Obama at last night's debate.

"To begin with, he's stuck with the position of running down a war in which our military is currently engaged"... and clearly winning.
It begins and ends there. He wants to talk sbout the fact he was opposed to the war from the beginning. Most people are smart enough to understand that that is irrelevant to what to do now. On this issue Obama's position is clueless. He wants to withdraw from a war that is clearly being won. He bases his decision not on what is happening now but on whether the war should have been fought in the first place.
He's looking backwards. McCain is looking forward. The mask will fall before 11/08
Posted by: Terry Gain | Wednesday, February 27, 2008 at 08:59 PM
I think McCain needs to draw Obama a map. Better yet, maybe he can just give him the al Qaeda map recently captured in Iraq.
Posted by: Frogg | Wednesday, February 27, 2008 at 07:29 PM
"An accurate history does not reveal Obama to possess some special gift of judgment. It reveals him to be weak on National Defense, with a willingness to give tyrants too much slack"
- Dan Riehl
"I looked into [Vladimir Putin's] soul and liked what I saw."
- George W. Bush
Posted by: scarshapedstar | Wednesday, February 27, 2008 at 06:27 PM
Right-wing debate questions for Barack Obama:
Why do you want to pull out of Iraq when we are so clearly and unequivocally winning?
Does a lack of military career make you hate America so much that you can't even wear a lapel pin or is the inexperience just a general drag on your otherwise pathetic and lackluster resume?
If I told you where Osama bin Laden was, right this instant, how many nuclear bombs would you be willing to drop on that location? If I told you he was in Iran, would you still want to drop nukes on him, or would you rather make kissy faces with Amedenijad?
Why should our nation's generals listen to you? You, clearly, are not a Decider.
Say you love William F Buckley or I'll call you stupid and hit you in the nuts with this hammer.
Posted by: IslamoLlama | Wednesday, February 27, 2008 at 02:10 PM