McCain Misleads on Obama Troop Visit

The McCain campaign is playing fast and loose with the truth.

In a new attack ad, the McCain campaign claims that Barack Obama canceled a stop to visit wounded troops at a military base in Germany because he couldn't bring cameras inside.

That's not what happened. The Obama campaign scrapped the troop visit after the Pentagon told them it would be viewed as a campaign event. As MSNBC noted:

The plan was to go with his military aide, retired General Scott Gration. The Pentagon said Gration was off-limits because he had joined the campaign-- violating rules that it not be a political stop.

Obama had gone to see wounded troops in Iraq earlier in the week, without even confirming he'd been there. No press, no pictures. He has done the same when he goes to Walter Reed -- never any press.

Essentially, the Bush Administration intervened to block Obama's planned visit and now the McCain campaign is criticizing Obama for it. Isn't that ironic?

McCain's new ad claims that "McCain is always there for our troops." Except when he's not. McCain recently opposed (and then skipped the vote on) a 21st century GI Bill for our men and women in uniform. It wasn't an isolated incident.

"[McCain] has demonstrated a tendency to work against veterans' interests, voting time after time against funding and in favor of privatizing services--in other words, of rolling back the VA's improvements by supporting some of the same policies that wrecked Walter Reed," Brian Beutler wrote in The Nation in June. As Beutler notes:

During a March 2005 Senate budget debate, McCain voted to kill an amendment that would have "increase[d] veterans medical care by $2.8 billion in 2006." That amendment lacked an assured funding stream, but lest one mistake this incident for a maverick's stance against budget-busting, there's more. Just a year later McCain voted against an amendment that would have "increase[d] Veterans medical services funding by $1.5 billion in FY 2007 to be paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes.

McCain has displayed courage under fire, but he's no longer the champion for the troops he claims to be.

Comments (29)

1. But, Senator McCain is a man of honor who believes in issue-based campaigns, not attack and smear campaigns.

   or atleast he used to.

   Posted by Maskdelta at 07/28/2008 @ 12:06pm

2. BTW, Mr Berman...got some technical glitchs with your post here.

   heheh

   Posted by Maskdelta at 07/28/2008 @ 12:06pm

3. HAHAHAHAH. Who was it that two days ago said that Obama didn't even bother to see wounded troops because he couldn't make a press circus of it.

   "Obama had gone to see wounded troops in Iraq earlier in the week, without even confirming he'd been there. No press, no pictures. He has done the same when he goes to Walter Reed -- never any press."

   Should probably try doing some research before you make stupid accusations.

   Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/28/2008 @ 12:21pm

4. It was either Frank or LVL by that way I can't remember which one. Gonna print a retraction or just try to deny deny deny?

   Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/28/2008 @ 12:23pm

5. Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/28/2008 @ 12:23pm

   Is there a difference between those two now?

   Posted by Maskdelta at 07/28/2008 @ 12:25pm

6. "Obama had gone to see wounded troops in Iraq earlier in the week, without even confirming he'd been there. No press, no pictures. He has done the same when he goes to Walter Reed -- never any press."

   By the way. This is freakin classy. Showing up to visit them without bothering to tell anyone you are going. I am sure those wounded he has visited feel good about a guy who comes to visit them not because it's a photo op but because he actually wants to visit them. I'm sure one of our local conserves will find a way to turn this against him because they can never say anything good about Obama. But I would just like to point out how much classier this is than unleashing attack ads about not visiting wounded troops even though he was turned away by our government.

   Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/28/2008 @ 12:27pm

7. Is there a difference between those two now? Posted by Maskdelta at 07/28/2008 @ 12:25pm

   Good point.

   Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/28/2008 @ 12:28pm

8. I still don't understand why it is pro troops to encourage them to get killed and it is un american to want them out of harms way. What am I missing? Why didn't we invade Michigan after Tim Mcvegn bombed the Murrah building?

   Posted by julien38 at 07/28/2008 @ 12:33pm

9. Why didn't we invade Michigan after Tim Mcvegn bombed the Murrah building?

   Posted by julien38 at 07/28/2008 @ 12:33pm

   i keep telling you, the fed took care of michigan.

   Posted by frosty zoom at 07/28/2008 @ 12:52pm

10. The curious thing about John McCain's dishonorable attack on Barack Obama is that McCain himself visited Europe in March, but didn't visit the wounded troops in Landstuhl, Germany.

    It's true that McCain's trip to Europe bypassed Germany -- he only went to London and Paris. But as you can see in the map below, it turns out that London and Berlin are about the same distance from Landstuhl, and Paris is just a four hour drive away.

    So if McCain wanted to visit the troops, it would have been trivial to arrange -- no seismic event needed. But it's clear McCain didn't want to visit them, and as a result, it should be fair to ask McCain why he now feels entitled to attack Barack Obama.

    I'm not trying to say that John McCain didn't have other important things to do. For example, he hauled in much-needed cash at a campaign fundraiser hosted by a British Lord.

    http://www.jedreport.com/2008/07/why-didnt-mccai.html

    Posted by frosty zoom at 07/28/2008 @ 12:55pm

11. Goes to show--- McCave's got nothing and McCave isn't happy about it:

    McCain's New Tactic: Savage Obama's Character

    July 28, 2008 09:06 AM

    Whatever his motives, McCain's new hit on his foe's patriotism hints at two years of whispered, viral rumors and myths about Obama centered on his patriotism and American values, or, more to the point, his lack thereof. The emails --cataloged in snopes.com's lengthy Obama section and Obama's own "fight the smears" page --often have contradictory particulars, but the thrust is clear: Obama, various false emails claim, is not really a natural-born American citizen; is not really a Christian, and refuses to pledge allegiance to the American flag.

    Not all Republicans think this is a good idea. Sen. Chuck Hagel said Sunday that McCain is on "thin ground," and the Washington Post quotes a strategist questioning the new tactics:

    One GOP strategist with close ties to McCain's campaign said the new line of attack reflected the operation's "schizophrenic" nature. He said that tendency was also on display last week, as McCain spoke at length about media coverage of Obama rather than sticking with his plan to focus on the economy.

    "They couldn't help themselves," the strategist said, adding that the ad over the hospital visit is "churlish and unlike McCain, and hardly will resonate with the swing voters who are going to decide this election." The strategist continued: "They're doing it because the candidate, and the campaign, is not happy with where they are and they're lashing out."

    If McCain hopes to win the election, the strategist added, "he needs to be a happy warrior."

    http://tinyurl.com/5ssp5f

    But McCave is an angry guy; a conflicted guy:

    A tortured soul in favor of torture. One that wishes to stay in Iraq for 100 years, but 'having' to say he'd leave in 16 months to be politically expedient.

    McCave's having to slam Obama for not visiting the troops in Germany even though McCave knows he did a worse thing by choosing a fund raiser closer to the troops McCave didn't visit.

    Yes, McCave has a lot to be angry about. Having to cosy up to hsuB/cHeney, two men he deeply despises for the lies they told about him in 2000, questioning McCave's patriotism, besmirching his daughter's reputation and his family.

    McCave truly hates what he's become, but can't stop his ambition and greed. It's become so easy for him to lie; to say completely contradictory things. It's totally in keeping with who he is now and will continue to always be-- lest, like his infector-- hsuB, his entire revisionist reconstructed psychologically laminated together shell of a world collapses.

    You see-- McCave is incrementally inheriting hsuB's sins. Slowly becoming what he wants and can only forgive himself by being, that which beat him, his ultimate captors: the GOP new con repub dic'tatorship.

    I'd wager McCave will be requiring a major intervention fairly soon.

    Posted by hsuBfools at 07/28/2008 @ 12:57pm

12. Posted by frankgrits at 07/28/2008 @ 12:50pm

    Exactly as I figured. Frank can't admit that Obama has done ANYTHING right. He visits our troops in secret and then Frank tries to insult him for not being allowed to visit one group. Is he supposed to break in? If the government tells him he isn't allowed what is he supposed to do Frank? Maybe you should get you head out of McCain's ass long enough to be able to acknowledge when Obama has actually done something everyone can agree is good. Like visiting wounded troops in secret as to NOT make it a press circus

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/28/2008 @ 12:58pm

13. more priceless rantings from some as*hole in nyc.

    Posted by darladoon at 07/28/2008 @ 1:00pm

14. If and when Obama becomes President, he can issue orders for them to come home. I don't think that will happen because he knows better and is just politically posturing to get the votes of uninformed people but if he is CIC, the troops will obey his orders just like they are duty bound to obey Dubya's. Posted by frankgrits at 07/28/2008 @ 12:54pm

    So is McCain sayingthat Obama's 16 month withdrawal plan is a good idea just posturing too? Or did he mean it? Does him endorsing it MAKE it a good idea because he has more experience?

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/28/2008 @ 1:01pm

15. Read up on the difference in their plans and repost. You won't need to ask silly questions if you did more research before posting. Posted by frankgrits at 07/28/2008 @ 1:02pm

    Haha says the man who has been proven completely wrong many many times.

    You mean McCain's "plan" to possibly pull out troops in 16 months depending on the situation on the ground?

    Or Obama's plan to pull out troops in 16 months depending on the situation on the ground?

    "McCain initially said that he was certain that Maliki would not support a timetable, "Because I know him. And I know him very well. And I know the other leaders. And I know -- I've been there eight times, as you know. I know them very, very well,""

    This is also a funny quote for me. Looks like with all that experience he still couldn't see the coming tide. Oh well.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/28/2008 @ 1:10pm

16. As usual, because you don't research, you figured wrong. Do you know anything about the military hospital in Germany? Oh, and trust me, Obama or any other politician never does anything in secret' that could benefit him. Posted by frankgrits at 07/28/2008 @ 1:06pm

    It would appear he did it slightly in secret because you didn't know he was visiting troops until now. Frank just admit it. You will never admit anything positive about Obama. You have a cultish following to anyone you support which means you can never say anything negative about them and you can never say anything positive about the other guy. Obama tries to visit the troops and is denied access. He visits the troops in Iraq and at Walter Reed in secret and you insult him for it saying he couldn't have possibly done it in "secret."

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/28/2008 @ 1:13pm

17. Posted by frankgrits at 07/28/2008 @ 1:06pm

    You are a funny guy Frank. You carry this air of wanna-be superiority. You act as if you know more than everyone else or are better than everyone else yet you are often times proven wrong more than anyone else. You tell other people to do their research but you often don't know what you are talking about. For instance maybe you should have done your research about Obama visiting wounded troops two days ago when you said that he never does because he couldn't bring a camera crew. Turns out the reason you didn't know is because he didn't want to bring a camera crew. Now that you find out he has been visiting them you attach yourself to this stupid McCain attack ad instead of just acknowledging that Obama HAS been visiting our troops and showing his support for them you use this as a venue to launch more attacks against him because your cultish devotion to McCain and anyone you support for election. It's just funny really.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/28/2008 @ 1:18pm

18. >>>Essentially, the Bush Administration intervened to block Obama's planned visit and now the McCain campaign is criticizing Obama for it. Isn't that ironic?<<<

    John McCain is NOT for our troops; he is just another lackey for the Military Industrial Complex (MIC) that want to line the pockets of executives in defense related corporations at the taxpayer's expense.

    No MORE unnecessary wars means voting down John McSame McCain and sending a message to the MIC that war is not another name for "armed robbery" of another country's natural resources or and easy way to boost the profits of defense oriented companies - war is a LAST resort measure when it is ABSOLUTELY necessary to protect more lives than it takes!

    Posted by Metteyya at 07/28/2008 @ 1:33pm

19. From the Think Progress website, 5/23/08:

    "In fact, his stance against the GI bill not only places him squarely in the minority of the Senate, but puts him in opposition to the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the American Legion, and the national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

    The recognition McCain has received from veterans groups is not "high awards" but failing grades:

    -- Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America gave McCain a grade of D for his record of voting against veterans. (By contrast, Obama got a B+.)

    – Disabled Veterans of America noted McCain's dismal 20 percent voting record on veterans' issues. (Obama had an 80 percent.)

    – In a list of "Key Votes," Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) notes McCain "Voted Against Us" 15 times and "Voted For Us" only 8. (Obama voted for VVA 12 times, and against only once.)"

    Mr. Berman is hardly "slandering our American heroes and those who HAVE served". He is merely telling the truth about a once-honorable man whose character and memory have taken a back seat to his aspiration to power.

    Posted by drhammer at 07/28/2008 @ 1:33pm

20. "You act as if you know more than everyone else..."

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/28/2008 @ 1:18pm

    He knew that Hilary Clinton would be the Democratic candidate.

    Posted by drhammer at 07/28/2008 @ 1:39pm

21. He knew that Hilary Clinton would be the Democratic candidate. Posted by drhammer at 07/28/2008 @ 1:39pm

    Yeah he was sure she would bounce back...

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/28/2008 @ 2:12pm

22. As usual, because you don't research, you figured wrong. Do you know anything about the military hospital in Germany?

    Posted by frankgrits at 07/28/2008 @ 1:06pm

    Also what does it matter which military hospital it is? No military hospital is more or less important than another whether it is in Iraq, the US or Germany. It's about showing the troops that you care about them. The Pentagon had it's reservations about allowing him to go to the hospital. What is he supposed to do? Tell the Pentagon to go shove it?

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/28/2008 @ 2:20pm

23. "And despite some back-and-forth with the Pentagon over the specifics of what happened, the Obama campaign points out that such a visit on the campaign's dime would have been singled out for criticism had he gone. "

    This is so true. If he had gone to Landstuhl every single Anti-Obama person like Frank would have been saying "Oh, now he is just playing politics." EVEN if he had gone with no press and didn't tell anyone. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. However since people like Frank don't care WHAT the man says or does, people like Frank aren't the ones he is trying to win.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/28/2008 @ 2:24pm

24. "Oh, and trust me, Obama or any other politician never does anything in secret' that could benefit him."Posted by frankgrits at 07/28/2008 @ 1:06pm |

    Um, how could you possibly know this? If it's successfully done in secret, you wouldn't hear about it. LOL

    Incidentally, there have been Presidents, including Nixon and Eisenhower, who took secrets to the grave in order to help the country even though revealing those secrets would have helped them fend off criticisms.

    Posted by BlueSpark at 07/28/2008 @ 3:02pm

25. Posted by 2HAPPY at 07/28/2008 @ 3:06pm

    To put back in the parts HAPP took out...

    Rasmussen Marketing STILL puts Obama at a 65% chance at the Presidency.

    And a new poll by RR shows that 52% of the country want us out of Iraq regardless if we "win" there.

    So feel free to quote Rasmussen, HAPP.

    Posted by Maskdelta at 07/28/2008 @ 3:11pm

26. Inserting a comment on Berman's fine post prepared for another place:

    "...Essentially, the Bush Administration intervened to block Obama's planned visit and now the McCain campaign is criticizing Obama for it. Isn't that ironic?"

    ***

    Answer: Maybe. Depends on what your definition of irony is. But it is also obviously something more than backfiring sarcasm.

    What the false assertion accomplishes is to block any rapport with the image of Obama seen bringing solace to disfigured soldiers. And consideration of who caused their condition.

    The snake brain blocks the sympathy chord (brain 2) from even reaching visual imagery alongside its Nemesis. The reversal has him canceling the meeting for the made-up reason that it was because he couldn't get pictures of himself "doing hospital condolences". This is smear is brain 3 (right wing reptile) to brain 1. It makes a loop bypassing sentiment of real respect, seizing on any show of soft feelings for life long disability and deformity as alin to sexual weakness. Consideration of actual feelings, at all, except titilation-attack do not register on this deformed mentality.

    It was shaped during the years '68 - '73, when America learned to live under a lying President, Nixon the Republican, whose criminality McCain would now like to continue. With the help of the Surge detergent and Zionism, who can say?

    Posted by jones at 07/28/2008 @ 4:11pm

27. just could leave them jewboys out could you, "jones".

    Posted by frosty zoom at 07/28/2008 @ 4:44pm

28. Posted by lvliberty1 at 07/28/2008 @ 7:22pm

    THE WAR ON TRIBBLES!!!!!!!!

    you should be more worried about the dollar's devaluation.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 07/28/2008 @ 7:26pm

29. The Manipulated Manipulators!

    It is OLD HAT politics. Rhetoric, rhetoric, rhetoric. It just saddens me that the msm are so easily manipulated. The recorruptlicans were attempting to defuse this trip's press far before Obama's plane left the ground. It will not work though--I audaciously hope--because of the juxtaposition of Obama as a leader on the world stage and McCain joking about bombing Iran.

    McCain is acting like the surge is his Holy Grail, and the msm just lap it up, probably fantasizing about the baby-back ribs that they will be wolfing down at his ranch. It seems like when the Republican pundits begin WHINING about the liberal media, it is code to the msm to begin bashing Obama.

    McSame's approach is warmed up Clinton camp leftovers.

    I must say though, the lecture by McCain on "the surge" in front of the CHEESE isle had me and my boys rolling on the floor laughing. CHEEEEEEEEZE indeed! Then the next photo op for the McCain camp--The Fudge Haus! Appropriate when you listen to McCain's revisionist history on Iraq! This is the best that his campaign could come up with as Obama is speaking to 200,000+ about the importance of international team work. Okkkkkk...

    What really cracks me up is listening to the pundits squirm. A couple of days ago I actually heard a pundit say that, (paraphrased here), like Bush, he (Obama) runs a great campaign, but you don't know what you are going to get as a leader! Wow. When the republicans are putting up their own party's president as a rationale to diminish a presidential candidate, now that smacks of real desperation! Couple that with the fact that the Republicans are running from the McSame claim. All I can say is, wow.

    Many would say that the msm are the manipulators not the manipulated and I would agree to an extent; however whenever pundits start barking about the liberal media, they all get their undies in a bunch and begin "proving" that they are not biased. I have seen it happen again and again. Manipulated manipulators. If you couple that with the corporate check signers, and the fact that the AP president is practically high-fiving Rove. Yeah, sometimes it is hard to tell who is jerking the string and who is the dancing puppet. However, I would argue that it is the media dancing on the same string McCain's dancing on--moneyed interests; the corporate sponsors. This is why Obama is not only competing with the McCain Camp, but also with the corporate monocorrespondent voiced media. It is a battle on two fronts, and though he needs to schmooze--to a certain extent--I would argue that he should have a multitude Jedi journalists on the ready to come back at their monotone mantras.

    Here are some of my ideas:

    Republicans borrow and spend.

    America's been left with debt--again!

    American dollars should serve Americans!

    They send our jobs overseas; and they spend our money overseas!

    I understand that Obama is trying to run a different kind of campaign, and indeed he has; however I do believe that we are shadow boxing the corporations of America through the punditry and the msn. We need to put them in their place by beating them at their own game. I believe that the audacity of hope can shift to the audacity of truth and reveal the msm for the manipulated manipulators they are.

    Posted by PrairieDeb at 07/29/2008 @ 12:49am