The Obama and McCain campaigns engaged in a minor skirmish over Iraq today. What struck me about it was a phrase used by Obama surrogate John Kerry:
He (McCain) is proving every day that he doesn't understand Iraq, or the Middle East, or the war on terrorism.
This chimes with last week's charge, delivered by both Kerry and Biden, that McCain is 'totally out of touch' with what's going on in Iraq.
The Obama campaign won't be content with just defending themselves from McCain's attacks. Nor do they simply want to contrast McCain's experience in foreign affairs with Obama's judgement. No, they are intent on destroying McCain's greatest asset: the perception that when it comes to national security, he knows what he's talking about.
This is actually a Karl Rove strategy (and long before that, a JFK strategy): take your opponent's greatest strength and turn it into a weakness. John Kerry can testify that it works.
Comments