John McCain’s new ad:
And it got Howard Deans panties in a bunch:
“John McCain can try to reintroduce himself to the country, but he can’t change the fact that he cast aside his principles to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with President Bush the last seven years. While we honor McCain’s military service, the fact is Americans want a real leader who offers real solutions, not a blatant opportunist who doesn’t understand the economy and is promising to keep our troops in Iraq for 100 years.”
Which is quite an extraordinary ignorant statement, even for Dean. For one thing, he did not promise to keep troops in Iraq for a 100 year. He said he would have no problem with it as long as they are not being hurt and/or killed:
THE SPIN:
Obama: “We are bogged down in a war that John McCain now suggests might go on for another 100 years.”
Clinton: “I’ve also been a leader in trying to prevent President Bush from getting us committed to staying in Iraq regardless, for as long as Senator McCain and others have said it might be — 50 to 100 years.”
THE FACTS:
The Democrats leave out a vital caveat.
When McCain was asked about Bush’s theory that U.S. troops could be in Iraq for 50 years, the senator said: “Maybe 100. As long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed, it’s fine with me, and I hope it would be fine with you, if we maintain a presence in a very volatile part of the world where al-Qaida is training, recruiting, equipping and motivating people every single day.”
A troop presence that does not involve Americans being harmed is, by definition, not a war.
Additionally, Dean had no problem with a nominee presenting his military experience to the voters when Kerry was doing it:
“Who would you rather have in charge of the defense of the United States of America, a group of people who never served a day overseas in their life, or a guy who served his country honorably and has three Purple Hearts and a Silver Star on the battlefields of Vietnam?”
But now, miraculously, he has a problem with it….shocking!
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