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Obama in Kuwait, Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan, and Israel

In a matter of days Obama will be heading off to Kuwait, Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, a meeting with Palestinian leaders and a stopover in Europe including Germany, France and Britain. According to Rachel Maddow this trip is risky but brilliant.

Obama’s mission is to broadcast a message back home. At the same time there are a million and one local interest groups keen to leverage a moment in the sunshine, and therein lies part of the risk. For Europeans – Obama represent a historic moment in American history, and, the end of George W. Bush. It’s a feel good moment and Americans will enjoy feeling the love. Perhaps also, this is the moment where anti-American sentiment could turn in favor of the cousins.

18-JUL-08 Kuwait.
19-JUL-08 Kabul, Afghanistan.
21-JUL-08 Iraq.
22-JUL-08 Jordan.
23-JUL-08 Israel.
24-JUL-08 Berlin, Germany.
25-JUL-08 Paris, France.
26-JUL-08 London, England.

541 replies on “Obama in Kuwait, Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan, and Israel”

In the 29 states (plus the District of Columbia) where voter affiliation is kept by party, the Democrats have scored perceptible gains since the presidential election of 2004 while the Republicans have suffered significant losses. To be specific, the number of registered Democrats in party registration states has grown by nearly 700,000 since President George W. Bush was reelected in November 2004, while the total of registered Republicans has declined by almost 1 million.

The Democrats should have a corresponding jump in the participating rate, whereas the Repugs should have a bigger slump in the voter participation rate. Because participation by the registered party members is much higher than your normal run of the mill voter.

Gaffhook and all, the Diebold electoral fraud story is refusing to go away. How Team Obi prepare for the potential E-Day chaos, could well determine the ease with which The Kid is swept into power. Certainly “McCain’s Brain”, Karl Rove understudy Steve “Schmuckens” Schmidt, will be all over the potential “angles of rort” like a “toucher” at an office xmas party.

Some new evidence of possible election tampering with Diebold machines has now come to light. What has been clear to computer security professionals for years is now beginning to dawn on politicians: electronic voting machines are only acceptable if they produce paper ballots that voters can verify, deposit in a ballot box, and be used for recounts if need be. The Website verifiedvoting.org keeps track of which states require paper trails and manual audites and which don’t. Currently 18 states have laws requiring paper trails and audits and another 13 require paper trails but no audits.

http://www.electoral-vote.com/icon.html?
(cf. halfway down “News from the Votemaster)

Chris B, those recent Ohio figures giving The Kid an 8 point lead are most interesting. According to Votemaster’s mouse-over Ohio map on the above link, Obi’s advantage is a mere 1%.

Franken Stumbling in Minnesota Senate Race.

Just a few months ago, Al Franken had plenty of reasons to smile about his chances of unseating Minnesota’s Republican Sen. Norm Coleman .

Minnesotans oppose the war — and the president — that Coleman supported. Franken was doing his homework: he had entered the race early and was running a strong grass-roots campaign focused on local organizing and smaller-venue events.

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000002921763

My thoughts on it. If the tidal wave is big enough, any fish no matter how big, that is swimming in the opposite direction, will be swept along with tsunami.

An important Senate poll that may not have been picked up is the Rasmussen poll in Alaska.

It has Begich (D) leading Sen. Stevens (R) 52-44. This is the biggest lead that Begich has had over Stevens and shows this Alaska senate seat is definitely in play come November.

The result also correlates with yesterday’s Research 2000 poll that showed Begich with a 2 point lead over Stevens.

Rasmussen link is below:

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_senate_elections/alaska/election_2008_alaska_senate

From Novak

Sources close to Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign are suggesting he will reveal the name of his vice presidential selection this week while Sen. Barack Obama is getting the headlines on his foreign trip.

ENPR Special: Sources say McCain Veep Pick to Come This Week

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=27630

So how do you get away from a diebold machine;

Simply change the company name from Diebold Election Systems to Premier Election Solutions (Texas based)

Now instead of havin a good ole punch in lectronic vote that can be corrupted, you simply mark the ballot paper and scan it. This is then lectronicaly counted but there is a paper trail in case.

Of course the paper trail will never be used there you go.
The new system has a real good feel good name to it and no mention of diebold eh.
Get your Premier Election Solution vote here now!

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/jul/21/me-yes-i-scan-voting-is-safer-on-paper/

Meanwhile the GOP are concerned that they may lose Georgias 15 presidential voters because of Barr and Obi has distanced himself from Max Cleland, The Senator who lost Georgia to the diebold with a poll lead of 5%, who is now a lobbyist. Bami’s policy bit like Rudds, Say no to Lobbyists.

http://themoderatevoice.com/politics/democratic-party/21185/on-obama-cleland-and-georgia-voting-machine-fraud/

More polls:

Michigan (Detroit News): Obama +2
Georgia (Rasmussen): McCain +11
Alaska (Rasmussen): McCain +5
North Carolina (Civitas): McCain +3
New Hampshire (UNH): Obama +3
Ohio (PPP): Obama +8
National (Gallup): Obama +6
National (Rasmussen): Obama +1

All are pretty good for Obama. He probably wants to get a lead in NC sometime soon to justify why he’s spending so much money there – it’s been a couple of months since he led in a poll there (not counting the Zogby Interactive).

He would like the leads in NH and MI to be bigger, although the 8 point lead in OH is very good for him. Alaska is still in play, although Georgia still seems a bridge too far.

One more Senate poll:

Georgia (Rasmussen): Sen. Chambliss (R) +30

The Dems definitely don’t have a chance of picking this seat up…

309 Swing Lowe I wasn’t expecting an early swing. Not till after Obama’s European tour, but hey, we’ll take it. Keep an eye on Maine and Minnesota.

This mistrust of John McCain has its roots in his uneasy relationship with evangelical leaders.

In its most famous manifestation, he referred to televangelists Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson as “agents of intolerance” during his 2000 run for the White House.

I bet that quote about Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson comes back to haunt him. All people have to do is have there own You Tube account, then submit copies of McCain doing that quote. Even you kids can do it. Tell your friends, the more different people submit it the better the coverage. (Each person will use different key words) so don’t copy anyone else, use your own words. If you can’t do it, get your kids to do it.

I have just caught up with this article on the BBC site. It is on an old subject, but still worth reading.

She is also well-positioned as a bold counterpoint to the GOP’s favourite charge when it comes to Mr Obama: “elitism”. Her modest roots in a one-bedroom apartment, with a shift-working father, are anything but “elite”.

Further, as she said herself on last week’s The View, she “wears her heart on her sleeve,” a potentially powerful contrast to Mr Obama, who, at times, has come across as more guarded.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7470764.stm

Article over on the NYT detailing reaffermation of Iraq administration support for Obama’s position.

After a day spent meeting Iraqi leaders and American military commanders, Mr. Obama seemed to have navigated one of the riskiest parts of a weeklong international trip without a noticeable hitch and to have gained a new opportunity to blunt attacks on his national security credentials by his Republican rival in the presidential race, Senator John McCain.

Whether by chance or by design, the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq chose a day when Mr. Obama was in the country to provide its clearest statement yet about its views on the withdrawal of American troops. After a weekend of dispute about precisely what Mr. Maliki was suggesting, his spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, told reporters in Baghdad, “We cannot give any timetables or dates, but the Iraqi government believes the end of 2010 is the appropriate time for the withdrawal.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/22/us/politics/22assess.html

In another NYT piece – this one on the McCain’s stopover at former President Bush, George H. W’s place … and in the article are some funny things about live within the McCain Campaign. Here is an extract from the article following McCain complaining about Obama coverage:

Mr. McCain’s comments were mild compared with the bleak mood and frustration on the part of his advisers, who have taken to referring to Mr. Obama sarcastically as “The One” and railing against the large amount of coverage Mr. Obama is receiving compared with Mr. McCain.

“There is nothing you can do about it,” said an acerbic Mark Salter, one of Mr. McCain’s closest advisers, while standing at the back of a modest crowd assembled to hear Mr. McCain speak at a picnic in South Portland, Me. “ ‘The One’ went to Europe and homage must be paid.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/22/us/politics/22mccain.html

No U-turn. Obama’s stance on Iraq is chillingly consistent.

The presidential hopeful has been accused of flip-flopping over the occupation, but he was never for full withdrawal.

His remarks before the 2003 invasion resonated well within the American antiwar movement. His scathing references to the Bush administration’s folly and his demands for “ending the war” were probably decisive in winning him the Democratic party nomination against Hillary Clinton, whose vote for war in 2003 ultimately crippled her credibility as the commander-in-chief who would bring it to an end.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/22/barackobama.uselections20081

Want to read a very good partisan report on the U.S. election?

A big November ahead for Senate Democrats.

In the second of two Salon conversations forecasting the November congressional elections, three experts share their opinions about the prospects for Democratic gains in the Senate. Jennifer Duffy is senior editor of the Cook Political Report, where she covers U.S. Senate and governor races. Since 2001, Nathan Gonzalez has been political editor of the Rothenberg Political Report, a nonpartisan newsletter covering U.S. House, Senate and gubernatorial campaigns. Amy Walter is editor of the Hotline, the premier daily news digest of Washington politics. They spoke to Salon by phone.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/07/22/senate_roundtable/

Good article Chris. I’m a bit disappointed they’re only talking about +7 for the Dem in the senate.

Obama is going to have a hard time cleaning up the chimps mess. He could really use a filibuster proof senate

336 dogb Yes, I think 14 is possible, North Carolina is talked about regularly, and it is red on votemaster. Maybe they don’t want to look too cocky, which is fair enough.

Chris B at 337

Your wish is my command. I have created a new category in the list up on the right – title ‘Opinion’ – a place for good articles as and when they arrive. In addition to you recommendation I have also added an article from Hardball title ‘History in the Making’.

338 Chris B Maybe they don’t want to put their neck out too far and get it chopped off. Whereas I’m willing to stick my neck out and call it as I see it. I did that in 2006, and was only 1 seat out in my prediction, (to myself). Tennessee.

After the huge mess that the Republicans have made of the economy. Anyone who supports, McCain or the Republicans is a danger to the economy.

Tip for helping out in this election campaign, get thumbnail links for EC’s cartoon’s. Pick 6-8 and send them to your friends in an email. This way they will eventually get back to the USA in the 100’s of thousands. You start it and people will follow on. Maybe say in the email, pass it on and you can change the world!

EC at 343

That first link is so consistent with my #325 post. Apparently according to the McCain campaign people – Obama is ‘The One’ and your link just throws that into perspective (at least a perspective that makes sense if your working inside the McCain campaign).

Jon Stewart does a hoot of segment on Obama’s trip, and slips in McCain’s “Iran PaKistan border” moment for good measure.

Is Macca senile? Or is he just pretending?

Cheers, comrades Cat &Chris. Riding the zeitgeist is like a Poevian descent into in a maelstrom. All it takes is a keyboard, a cuppa and a shackleless mind.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Descent_into_the_Maelstr%C3%B6m

cf. plot summary.

But many meek suckers eke out their span
following the same tedious path every freakin’ day of their bland existences.
These mules of the mediocre are not our people; poor, sad ungulate too afraid to burn out, they pitifully rust and die wondering why they didn’t buy the ticket, why they didn’t take the ride.

With thanks to uncles: Edgar Alan, Neil and Duke.
———————-
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/56576

From Culture of Complaint to Whiner Nation:
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/56554

Oh, too funny!

Eddy is now blackmailing Catrina:

#
165
Edward StJohn Says:
July 22nd, 2008 at 7:57 pm

Catrina,

Today’s actions are a start, but my minimum conditions for posting remain. You know what is required.

EStJ

…on PB.

Is he suffering attention deprivation syndrome, or something?

Catrina, “sweetie”; tonight’s the night…
“GG, I’ll post it tomorrow night.”
Catrina, you wicked; not moonlighting with the Pekinese pajama petal are we?
Update: “Catrina, Today’s actions are a start, but my minimum conditions for posting remain. You know what is required. EStJ”
Do tell.

KR at 349

Look – I don’t want to facilitate any divergent discussions on things happening over on PB and I’ve already slapped Chris and Andrew for raising the subject. Thing is I just have to respond to this with the note:

“ESJ – GET A LIFE”.

Apologies to Andrew and Chris for my double standards.

351 Catrina

That’s just hysterically funny Cat, he’s so twisted he cannot let go!

OK. I’ll not mention it again. I just thought it was amusing.

cheers

McCain can’t handle rejection either:

In rejecting McCain’s submission, New York Times Op-Ed editor David Shipley said that he wasn’t “going to be able to accept this piece as currently written,” and explained his rationale by saying: “The Obama piece worked for me because it offered new information (it appeared before his speech); while Senator Obama discussed Senator McCain, he also went into detail about his own plans … It would be terrific to have an article from Senator McCain that mirrors Senator Obama’s piece. To that end, the article would have to articulate, in concrete terms, how Senator McCain defines victory in Iraq.”

Salon

…but his essay would begin: “One hundred years hence…victory!”

“KR – any chance of an OP ED price for the next thread?”

Oh…. So HE gets paid, eh ??

356

I’d not read Cole until you posted it (I usually fly past his blog once a day, and have done so since BEFORE the war).

I loved this:

This denial was issued through CENTCOM!

…says everything really.

I knew it smelled funny when the ‘denial’ was put out on the weekend, and said it had George’ paws all over it.

Too easy, isn’t it? After nearly 8 years of these twisted scumbags you’d think they’d realise we’re on to it! LOL

megan at 356

One thing missing on the Obama/Iraq/Mcain/Whithouse Gate thing is the entire subject of the implicit endorsement from Gordon Brown. If fact he’s up in the Commons today pushing a withdrawal agenda just three days ahead of meetings with Obama in London.

363 Catrina

Brown is now part of the axle of evil that extends from US Democrats right across the Atlantic…and just wait until it gets some traction!

The ham fisted gagging of al Maliki (don’t try that in a mosque kiddies!) really shows how lame this administration has become, and how low they’ll go to do Macca a favour. It’s comic really.

Lame duck, ham fisted….try painting lipstick on this pig! LOL

Obama touches down in Jordan (and, yes, the 757 is now in play):

Yesterday, Senator Obama’s traveling staff and press corps took a ride on the recently refurbished and repainted campaign plane. This vessel has been home to the many of us who travel full time with the Senator and we welcomed it back with open arms.

The plane’s first voyage was a particularly auspicious one. We flew to Jordan to meet up with Barack Obama, who is stopping in Amman following a fact-finding tour of Afghanistan and Iraq. He will hold a press conference tomorrow with Senator’s Reed (D-RI) and Hagel (R-NE) to discuss his trip thus far. Barack will also be making stops in Israel, Germany, France, and England before returning home.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/obamaroadblog/gGx7ND

Just so that everyone here knows that I’m not just referencing pro Obama news clippings (although to be honest there has not been much else to talk about in the past week or two), I came across the semi-anonymous comment on a BBC blog which to my mind was a good anti-christ pitch on the current campaign process. Yes, I know – referencing the anti-christ is probably not the best way to pitch divergent opinion – but at the end of the day I have to remain true to my inner self:

Not to worry, everyone has been “goinig on and on and on and on” about this virtual ‘election’ when in reality nothing has changed “enormously”, or even modestly (not one of foreign journo’s most outstanding traits, either). One can drop in and out of this campaign at random and it still looks pretty much the same. Two mature men in suits groveling for corporate handouts and lying through their eye teeth to hoodwink the proles, either with macho right wing jingoism or empty “hope and change” platitudes. Obama Copacabana, the ultimate political poseur, takes his dog and pony show on the road, with his fawning American press puppies trailing obediently behind, wagging their tails. The whole point of the staged excursion is alluded to in Creamer’s dismal puff piece, “it will provide a demonstration of how fundamentally Obama will improve the way people around the globe-and especially young people- view the U.S.” To inflate Obama’s larger-than-life-image on the so-called “world stage”. In short, it’s a microcosm for the election, to invent a falsely benevolent image that naieve, impressionable young people around the world can believe in. And not a few gullible older folks, too. Not to mention a large percentage of the uncritical, obliging foreign press. All to cover up the ugly reality lurking beneath. That Obama is just another crude, conniving American imperialist every bit as committed to American (and Israeli) rule in the Middle East and around the world as any of the odious Bush gang. Different means, same ends. Imperialism with a black face, the “new” America!

‘the axle of evil’; the wheel deal Kirri:)

Sorry Cat…dwalfy withdrawal & poet’s ‘black’ blight.

EC at 368

Jindal – your kidding!

I mean – I’m hearing rumors about an imminent McCain VP announcement designed pricipally to take the winds out of Obama’s sails – but Jindal? It just doesn’t make sense.

Catrina re 367, 3 choice 2 choice no choice…remember? Jury’s out, not holding breath as the trailer city 3 wheeled wagon plus 25 dogs lurches through the fog but one can hope eh?

OK, Cat, I was kidding. It’ll be The Mittster fer sure. ‘Twas a crack at McCain’s desperation.

Tues July22:
http://news.yahoo.com/comics/nonsequitur;_ylt=A9G_R3iwwIVITyEAnhEDwLAF

“It’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them….”
Now who was it said that?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUdc5h10zTo

codger, old son, promise me you’ll stay away from Appalachia, orright?

Deal! 3/5 of 5/8 of bubkes is the best offer I’ve had all day. Night, gang.

Chris at 382

New Hampshire moves from blue to borderline blue and Alaska moves from red to pink (I wonder what the real men with their huskies will think about that).

351 Catrina No apologies necessary. But what they are trying to do is get us in a slanging match so we loose site of the US election and focus on fighting them. The angrier they get the more we know we are winning! Hello to my good friend Greensborough Growler.

383 Catrina But Alaska senate is almost dark blue. They would have sent us to the insane asylum, just after the 2004 election if we had suggested that.

BHO detour? Meets with McBomb in Delhi…

Oh dear…who woulda thunkit…

‘India’s government was hit Tuesday by furious allegations that it was bribing MPs as it faced a confidence vote which could spark early polls and end a controversial nuclear energy deal with the US.’

http://news.theage.com.au/world/indian-govt-hit-by-bribery-claims-ahead-of-confidence-vote-20080722-3j3v.html

NuklearIranIndiaPakisAfghanis etc…another case of the 3 wheeled wagon saving US…dontjaluvitt?

For what it’s worth – according to CNN the Senate Fact Finding Mission part of the tour is now complete (and ties in with the arrival of the new 757). From here on Obama is paying for the segments to Israel, Palestine, Germany, France and Britain out of his primary campaign funds. That’s interesting in that the much anticipated speech in Germany cannot be used as an argument for an abuse of funds. No matter what you political leaning – you have to give Kid credit from running one hell of a campaign.

MSNBC’s reporter Andrea Mitchell is covering Obama’s departure from Baghdad, noting the jump to Ramadi (the capital of the Anbar Province about 110 km west of Baghdad) for meetings with Sunni tribal leaders. The Daily Kos also provides a more on-the-ground feed of Obama address a enthusiastic crown of about 3,000 military personnel in Baghdad.

Andrea goes on to report on a planned meeting between Obama and King Abdullah of Jordan, a press conference, and dinner with the King and Queen Rania, ahead of a flight later to Jerusalem and meetings with the Palestinians tomorrow. Additional details are included in a NYT article covering the same event. Another NYT article details Obama’s ride back to the airport driven by the King in the King’s personal Mercedes Benz. Obama is scheduled to sit down with Israeli President Simon Peres and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday followed by a separate meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.

Back on mainland USA, Katrina Vanden editor of The Nation articulates a point of view much closer to our reality, but you have to wonder if voters will be listening. In the meantime media in the states for the most part are talking up the tour focusing mainly on the conflict created by the Iraq administration’s description of a time horizon of 2010. Naturally the talking heads are also speculating about possible Obama stuff-ups while moving through Israel and Palestine (and we all know how things can go wrong in that part of the world). In contrast Matthews made an appeal to the American public on yesterday’s Tonight Show to take a moment, step back and think about this election from your kids point of view.

Stay tuned, it’s only Tuesday in the Middle East and that means four more days before this thing is done and dusted.

Good morning all!
New Rasmussen poll for Colorado:

OBAMA 49
MCCAIN 42

OMFG: If Colorado is indeed going blue, that’ll help Obama in November.

McCain knee-capped by Maliki.
Even though this appears in the Asian Times it must have been in at least one US paper first.

WASHINGTON – This weekend’s surprise endorsement by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of Senator Barack Obama’s call for American combat forces to leave Iraq by mid-2010 marks a serious setback to Republican Senator John McCain, who has tried hard to depict his Democratic rival as “naive” on foreign policy, especially with respect to Iraq.

That Maliki’s endorsement in an interview with Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine came on the very eve of Obama’s visit to Baghdad has made things even worse for the McCain camp, which at first echoed the White House in insisting that the prime minister’s remarks had been “misunderstood and mistranslated”.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JG23Ak03.html

Obama Reaps Whirlwind Of Positive Coverage In Iraq.

The move by Iraq’s government is seen as providing a domestic political boost to Obama. For example, NBC Nightly News said Iraq’s leaders have become “Obama’s unlikely allies. … Whatever political benefit that Obama gets from this trip, his calls for more rapid withdrawal have helped Iraq’s government to pressure President Bush to seek an exit strategy.” On ABC World News, political analyst George Stephanopoulos said, “Halfway through the trip, it’s going about as well as it can possibly go” for Obama, who has “hit all his marks.” Under the headline “For Obama, A First Step Is Not A Misstep,” the New York Times reports in a front-page analysis that the Iraqi move is “providing Mr. Obama with a potentially powerful political boost on a day he spent in Iraq working to fortify his credibility as a wartime leader.” The Washington Post says that “as political theater, the events of the past few days have played unfailingly in the Democrat’s favor.” On MSNBC’s Hardball, Roger Simon of The Politico.com said, “Talk about message management. The Obama campaign seems to have managed the message of the Maliki government.

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/bulletin/bulletin_080722.htm

388 Catrina Couldn’t agree more with your assessment of Obama’s campaign. I am absolutely in awe of him. I keep waiting for something to go wrong. Hopefully with all his experienced personal behind him that won’t happen.

This poll means absolutely nothing now, due to the European tour blanket media coverage. Even Princess Dianna never received this much coverage and created this much excitement.

As McCain Campaigns in N.H., Obama Holds Slim Lead in Granite State Poll.

John McCain talks about New Hampshire a lot on the campaign trail, pointing towards his win in the primary here this year as the turning point of his campaign. He has held over 100 town halls in the state since the presidential race began. But familiarity may not breed votes.

A new poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire shows McCain and Barack Obama in tight race here, with Obama leading 46 percent to 43 percent, which is within the margin of error of 4.5 percent.

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/07/22/politics/fromtheroad/entry4281280.shtml

The polling companies must be jockying to get the first polls out, it would be a big boost for any media organisation to bring out the first polls with big swings to Obama.

There is so much cannon fodder in McCain, it’s a matter of choosing the juiciest target.

McSexist

McCain’s War on Women

In The Nation, Katha Pollitt put it simply: “To vote for McCain, a feminist would have to be insane.”

A February Planned Parenthood poll of 1,205 women voters in 16 battleground states found that 50 percent of women voters don’t know McCain’s position on abortion, and that 49 percent of women who backed McCain were pro-choice. Forty-six percent of women supporting McCain said they’d like to see Roe v. Wade upheld — though McCain says he supports overturning the decision. When they learned of his position on Roe, 36 percent of women who identified as both pro-choice and likely McCain voters said they would be less likely to vote for him.

http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3799/mcsexist/

Obama’s success keeps getting better and better. The excitement keeps building, and I need a valium to calm down.

Obama’s Iraq success difficult for McCain.

Barack Obama left Iraq today after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki voiced support for the departure of US combat troops by the end of 2010, a deadline similar to what the Democratic candidate has proposed.

Maliki’s stance gave a boost for Obama and presented McCain with a dilemma.

http://www.theage.com.au/world/obamas-iraq-success-difficult-for-mccain-20080723-3ji2.html

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