The Note: Obama Seeks Fresh Start on Iraq
EmailABC News’ Rick Klein Reports in Tuesday’s Note: Is good news out of Iraq good news for Sen. Barack Obama? (Yes, and no.)
Is bad news out of Iraq good news for Barack Obama? (No, and yes.)
Can any news he picks up in Iraq change his position? (Yes, but not really.)
Is there anything Obama can do about any of this? (No, and probably still no.)
As Obama, D-Ill., attempts to hit restart on the Iraq debate with a speech in Washington Tuesday, it’s useful to remember how tough this is to get right — not just for him, but for any politician who’s come into contact with the chaotic politics of the conflict.
The broad strokes may be painted in his direction, and he may yet turn his trip to Iraq and Afghanistan into a pure plus. But the early signs aren’t encouraging — drawing him criticism from the left and the right — and thus the need for a new start.
As unpopular as the war is — and as much as the Democrats have portrayed Sen. John McCain as a continuation of Bush-era policies — voters say they are as likely to support McCain’s plans Iraq plans as they do Obama’s.
Read the rest of The Note — and get all the latest on the 2008 election, Congress, the White House and the wide world of politics every day — from Rick Klein by bookmarking this link.
"Americans divide evenly between Barack Obama and John McCain’s approaches to the war in Iraq, and rate McCain much more highly on his abilities as commander-in-chief — key reasons the unpopular war isn’t working more to Obama’s advantage," ABC polling director Gary Langer writes.
Obama’s troop withdrawal plan is preferred by a bare 50-49 edge — and here’s one possible reason why: "Seventy-two percent of Americans — even most Democrats — say [McCain would] be a good commander-in-chief of the military," Langer writes. "By contrast, fewer than half, 48 percent, say Obama would be a good commander-in-chief, a significant weakness on this measure."
Check out the partisan split: "Sixty-nine percent of Democrats say he’d do well in this role; just 44 percent of independents and a mere 19 percent of Republicans agree," Langer writes.
"The poll results suggest that months of Democratic attacks on McCain’s Iraq position have not dented voters’ basic trust in his ability to lead the country’s armed forces," Jonathan Weisman and Jon Cohen write in The Washington Post.
Continue reading today’s Note by clicking HERE.
ABC News’ John Santucci and Alexa Ainsworth contributed to this report.
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Well if the Irakis want us to leave their country and Americans want to leave Irak, this kinda leaves McCain as the odd man out.
He may want to occupy Irak for 100 years but this is not what most Americans and Irakis want.
Posted by: The Commander Guy | July 15, 2008, 8:32 am 8:32 am
I misread this headline and got all excited. I thought it said, “Obama Seeks Fresh Start in Iraq.” For a moment, I thought he was going to move there. Aw, shucks – what a letdown.
Posted by: Rick | July 15, 2008, 8:33 am 8:33 am
Obama will have a chance, with this speech and his foreign trip, to take back the foreign policy advantage. He needs to play up his ability to deal with the real terrorists in Afghanistan.
Posted by: matt | July 15, 2008, 8:39 am 8:39 am
Asking if one candidate would make a good commander-in-chief is one of those questions that requires a great deal of post-survey interpretation. One of the most important aspects of the discussion would have to include focusing in on the demographics of the respondents. Those with military leadership experience would give much more credible responses than those without. How would the average American now what it really means to be commander-in-chief?
Consider the position of bank president. Joe has been a bank employee for 20 years. Would you hire Joe? Would your opinion change if you then learned that Joe was the bank’s repo man? Does his experience still qualify him for the post?
Keep in mind: we’re not electing a commander-in-chief… the position is president. Certainly, commander-in-chief is one of the many duties of the president… but that cannot be the only consideration.
Would you elect as commander-in-chief a man who signed up for a term of service, then shirked his duties in order to take care of personal business? What if that same man chose a sidekick who used every possible loophole at his disposal to avoid any military service? It happened… in 2000 and 2004.
Those who say McCain must be elected due to the ‘commander-in-chief’ reasoning are the same people who bypassed two men with military experience in favor of George W. Bush… and look at the mess we’re in as a result.
Posted by: Champ | July 15, 2008, 8:40 am 8:40 am
Obama’s strength in Iraq is in voting against this war in the first place. He saw through a currupt president who wanted to de-throne Saddam. This had nothing to do with 911.
McCain, on the other hand, was happy to follow like a puppy. Tongue hanging out and tail wagging.
Obama can make a positive out of this visit, by asking his generals to formulate a plan for moving troops out and making short work of Afganistan.
Posted by: DAVID NH | July 15, 2008, 8:45 am 8:45 am
GET OUR TROOPS OUT OF JAPAN< GET OUR TROOPS OUT OF GERMANY…WE ARE OCUPPIERS LMAO
Posted by: Steve | July 15, 2008, 8:50 am 8:50 am
DAVID IN NH -
OBAMA DIDN’T VOTE AGAINST THE WAR. HE WASN’T IN THE SENATE THEN. HE SAID HE OPPOSED THE WAR. IF HE WERE IN THE SENATE HE PROBABLY WOULD HAVE VOTED PRESENT LIKE HE USUALLY DOES.
THIS IS PROBLEM WITH OBAMA SUPPORTERS. THEY ARE SO MISINFORMED WITH THE INEXPERIENCED JUNIOR SENATOR FROM “CHICAGO”.
Posted by: Frank- EAST SIDE OF PROVIDENCE | July 15, 2008, 8:59 am 8:59 am
This all this clown Obama knows how to do is make speeches. He begins to feel the heat by the media and is asked questions and responds in this manner -
“um ummm Ughh – I didn’t mean that – um oh um ugh.
So the only way for him to sound intelligent is to have a speech written and posted on a teleprompter.
What a loser.
Posted by: DORIS | July 15, 2008, 9:02 am 9:02 am
Frank:
While you are correct in catching David’s error — true, Sen. Obama was not able to vote his opposition to the war since he had not yet been elected to the US Senate — you failed to comment on another key point: “McCain, on the other hand, was happy to follow like a puppy. Tongue hanging out and tail wagging.” The issue isn’t who voted and who didn’t… but what are the intentions of the two candidates. Last I heard, Sen. McCain has no real plan for ending the ‘police action’ in Iraq. His ’100 years’ quote, while taken somewhat out of context, is solid evidence that he is in favor of the status quo… which is not in line with the interests of most Americans.
Posted by: Champ | July 15, 2008, 9:18 am 9:18 am
Seriously, Frank…
You expect me to believe that?
Posted by: Champ | July 15, 2008, 9:32 am 9:32 am
I love people like matt, who think Obama can fix everything with a teleprompter and a speach. He might be able to sway the young and naive, but older voters know better. This guy has no experience in foreign policy, NONE!!!! And you want to hand him the reigns to the greatest fighting force on the planet??
Posted by: JRS | July 15, 2008, 9:39 am 9:39 am
Hillary Clinton said it first, “he can’t win”. The polls are now beginning to reflect that. In the end, American voters will take the safe, high road and vote McCain. The risk factor with Obama is just too high.
Posted by: JRS | July 15, 2008, 9:42 am 9:42 am
Obama needs a fresh start with everything now that he doesn’t have Hillary to copy from and Steve we are part of the united natiions which are supposed to be the peace keepers of the world a fact MR.Bush forgot
Posted by: Rose Szymanski | July 15, 2008, 9:49 am 9:49 am
Brenda…
Your response (concerning Angie’s posts)… is a classic example of pot/kettle.
I was simply offering advice to Angie… in order to make her argument more substantial.
If you care to recall… during the primary season both Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama agreed that their health plans were substantially similar. Both touted their own plan as better, while both agreed that the major components of their plans were identical.
If you care to explore all of the facts, you will find that Sen. Obama is, indeed, a very ‘bright’ individual… bright enough to put together an extremely effective campaign and proceed through the campaign with civility and poise. Read the current issue of Rolling Stone.
Posted by: Champ | July 15, 2008, 9:52 am 9:52 am
Obama: The blind leading the blind!
Posted by: Soetoro No! | July 15, 2008, 10:34 am 10:34 am
Obama hasn’t got Iraq right yet. Why should any thinking person believe he’ll get it right this time? The guy just cannot be trusted with a position on anything!
Posted by: Aston | July 15, 2008, 10:35 am 10:35 am
It will be interesting to see the enthusiasm level this fall with the college kids. Many will have moved on, many will have lost interest, and hopefully many will have had their eyes opened and no longer feel the need to follow the crowd who is blindly following false promises.
Posted by: Ex-democrat | July 15, 2008, 10:37 am 10:37 am
Now, we learned Obama has scrubbed his website of anything criticizing the surge in Iraq. Soon, he’ll be denying he ever criticized the effort. Yet, with all his position changes, the lemmings who value hope over substance continue to follow along for the ride. And, they’ll blame McCain for Obama’s ever shifting stand on things! Funny people!
Posted by: Aston | July 15, 2008, 10:42 am 10:42 am
It will be interesting to see the enthusiasm level this fall with the college kids. Many will have moved on, many will have lost interest, and hopefully many will have had their eyes opened and no longer feel the need to follow the crowd who is blindly following false promises.
Posted by: Ex-democrat | Jul 15, 2008 10:37:40 AM
——————
I bet the Obama campaign will offer great freebies so they can fill the football stadium to capacity. They are so innovative!
Posted by: HP Boston | July 15, 2008, 11:16 am 11:16 am
Mmmmm wonder how CLOSE John and Barack are in the polls today?
Running neck and neck, who will hang out to dry first?
Posted by: HP Boston | July 15, 2008, 11:20 am 11:20 am
Obama’s strength in Iraq is in voting against this war in the first place.Posted by: DAVID NH | Jul 15, 2008 8:45:12 AM
———————————
He never got to vote he was not in the Senate, only been there for 145 days!!
He does vote to fund the war each and every time now!!!
I was against the war too, I could not vote agaisnt it either, could you?
Posted by: HP Boston | July 15, 2008, 11:24 am 11:24 am
What American needs is a rookie who can make all the mistakes that Bush did? Then they can prove to the world that race is never a factor in America.
Obama the untouchable has lost some of his glamour and seek a new booster before Nov. He needs more than Votmains.
Posted by: John_Lai | July 15, 2008, 11:57 am 11:57 am
geevil:
You shouldn’t be surprised!
Obama is a Phoney! He has Morphed
into Bill Clinton!
Instead of trying to define the word
“is” he has come up with the term
“refine” to describe his many recent
policy flip-flops!
His refusal to recognize the
unqualified success of the troop “surge”
shows that he lacks the integrity and
judgement to be President of the
United States of America!
Just Say No to Obama! No You Can’t!
Posted by: reaganfan | July 15, 2008, 12:31 pm 12:31 pm
Could someone tell me how many high-paid speech writer Senator Obama has in his campaign? His speeches sound good when spoken with the help of a TelePrompter but I don’t think they are his personally written speeches and think he says exactly what he thinks people want to hear. The question is: Can he he actually make the changes he wants.
Posted by: Mary | July 15, 2008, 12:45 pm 12:45 pm
Obama is just another corrupt and lying politician who fools those who are most susceptible to being fooled. Nothing more!
There’s no limit to the depth he’ll sink to feed his ego. What a loser!
Posted by: Aston | July 15, 2008, 12:48 pm 12:48 pm
In the year 2000, we elected a Governor from texas with little foreign policy experience and look what we got\1
8 years later it seems several people have not learned their lesson, supporting a Senator from the Great State of Illinois, with little or no foreign policy whatsoever.
Human beings are the only animal to make the same mistake twice or sometimes it seems that we make the same mistake several times. We just do not learn.
Posted by: Gabriel | July 15, 2008, 1:38 pm 1:38 pm
Obama: Living proof that you can fool some of the people all of the time!
Posted by: Soetoro No! | July 15, 2008, 2:02 pm 2:02 pm
Past Predictions: Obama’s new speech on Iraq—check! Photo ops with military—; Photo ops with troops—; Photos ops landing back in the USA—; Speech redefining Iraq and Afghanistan policy—;—Refinings to be continued…..
Posted by: georgia | July 15, 2008, 2:32 pm 2:32 pm
I do not understand how some people can be taken in by this man. I do not believe he even knows what he thinks. Maybe it is true that somebody else tells him what to say at any given moment.
Posted by: S | July 15, 2008, 2:59 pm 2:59 pm