Democrat Barack Obama wants to prove he's ready to be a wartime commander in chief. Republican John McCain hopes to sell the idea that his rival is not.
Negative campaigner! Bad McCain!
The return of Iraq and Afghanistan to the forefront of the presidential campaign illustrates how both sides increasingly seem to view the race as largely a referendum on Obama, a first-term Illinois senator trying to become the first black president.
Or largely a referendum on Bush, depending on the mood.
"I will end this war as president," Obama said of Iraq and promised anew that he would redirect U.S. efforts to Afghanistan. The likely Democratic nominee struck a stately pose Tuesday as he delivered a lengthy foreign policy address ahead of an upcoming overseas trip. He spoke from a podium that said "Judgment to Lead" set up before an array of American flags.
Answering Obama, McCain gave his own speech in which the ex-Navy pilot, Vietnam prisoner of war and four-term Arizona senator cited his decades of military experience to paint his rival as unprepared. "I know how to win wars," the GOP nominee-in-waiting asserted, leaving unspoken the
Except for Jimmy Carter, and he didn't learn anything.
Clearly, the race is on to define the still relatively unknown Obama, and whichever candidate does a better job making his case could well win the White House. Their dueling foreign policy remarks Tuesday underscored as much.
How could he be the nominee of half the country, and still be 'relatively unknown'? Oh, unless it's because you can never nail him down on a position?
To be sure, Obama criticized the waging of the Iraq war, and national security as a whole, under President Bush, while McCain argued that last year's troop increase strategy that Bush championed was appropriate.
Not to mention, successful.
But with polls showing national security is an area in which Obama lags McCain, Obama largely sought to portray himself as competent to lead the country in the face of national security threats - and answer voters' worries - while McCain tried to raise questions about the fitness of Obama to oversee a nation at war - and stoke voters concerns.
Whereas the Big 0 talks about specifics - hope and change.
In surveys, McCain leads Obama on the question of who would a good commander in chief. And an AP-Yahoo poll taken last month showed 39 percent said McCain would do a better job of handling Iraq, compared with 33 percent for Obama.
I wonder who they thought would do a better job than McCain? Does this smell like a bad poll?
"This campaign is not going to be about McCain," said Chris Lehane, a Democrat who worked on Al Gore's presidential campaign in 2000. "It's ultimately going to be an up or down vote on whether the country is ready for the change Obama represents.
Todd Harris, a Republican aide on McCain's 2000 White House bid, said that given the mood of the country, "there might be a lot of voters who would never choose McCain over Obama. But they might look at Obama and decide he is not acceptable and, therefore, by default vote for McCain."
Republicans and Democrats alike say this campaign could be shaping up as the mirror image of the 1980 presidential race. Back then, the public wasn't happy with Democrat Jimmy Carter in the White House. The economy was tanking. There was turmoil overseas with hostages in Iran and soaring oil prices. Republican Ronald Reagan represented a different type of politician, yet voters were questioning whether he was up to the job. That kept the contest relatively close through the summer. Eventually, Reagan endeared himself to voters, eased their concerns and won handily that fall.
Voters crave a new direction after eight years of Bush
Isn't that the way it always is, AP? Some folks vote for a candidate, and some vote against his rival?
Thus, Obama is working to fill in the blanks for voters who are uneasy about him. His speeches and ads flesh out details of his biography and proposals. And he casts himself as a transformational figure who transcends partisanship and brings fresh ideas to fix Washington.Yea, TEAM!
Make no mistake: Obama, himself, recognizes the odds of a black man with only a few years of national political experience and a different-sounding name winning the presidency. "John McCain calls himself the underdog. I will simply point out, for reasons you might consider apparent, that I am the underdog. I will be the underdog until I'm sworn in," Obama said wryly last week at an Atlanta fundraiser.
McCain's latest campaign ad signaled a fresh
"Beautiful words cannot make our lives better. But a man who has always put his country and her people before self, before politics, can," the ad says. "Don't 'hope' for a better life. Vote for one."
I liked the ad.