From TPM Reader AG …
I find it disconcerting that Obama, after all this time, is still playing with kid gloves with McCain on issues of security and national defense. If Obama thinks he can win with McCain cornering the market on security issues, he and Kerry will have lots to talk about next year in the Senate Cloakroom.
McCain’s first reaction to the Georgia crises was to urge action that would commit the United States to war with Russia (by having Georgia immediately admitted to NATO). Obama needs to point out that, in this test for whether McCain is ready to be commander in chief, McCain grossly overreacted. Indeed, several days later, after McCain had time to cool down, he retracted his statements, saying that military intervention should not be considered. McCain fundamentally does not understand the purpose of NATO. Obama needs be repeating this series of events like a broken record. McCain overracted, and then changed his mind 3 days later. A President has no such luxury. McCain is no
match for the calm and calculated actions of a player like Putin. Words such as “confused,” “hot headed,” “overreacting” and “indecisive” need to become synonymous with the Obama campaign’s portrayal of McCain. Don’t just answer back with Celebrity ads.
Don’t whine that McCain had previous exposure to Warren’s questions. Drive the debate into his territory.McCain is playing his Georgia actions as a victory in every speech, and unless unanswered, it will become common wisdom. We keep waiting for Obama to do what we were promised he’d do: take McCain down at the knees on his one point of perceived strength. It is so much harder to do this after the narrative continues to harden.
