McCain's first attack ad

As Barack Obama is preparing for his first foreign trip as his party's nominee for President, John McCain launches his campaign's first attack ad. However, as TPM notes while he is attacking Obama's positions, both McCain and still-President Bush are also realigning themselves behind Obama on a number of issues:

1. increasing troop presence in Afghanistan
2. declaring victory and the promotion of a "general time horizon" (note: NOT a timetable) for troop withdrawl in Iraq
3. and the beginnings of diplomacy with Iran with a top-level State Dept official meeting with Tehran nuclear agents this week

While McCain & company are trying their damndest to paint Obama as a flip-flopper on these issues, ultimately it is the McCain campaign that is changing their policy the most over the past few weeks.

The rhetoric is still there, though. A member of McCain's "truth squad", Bud Day (best remembered for his role in the 2004 'swift boating' of John Kerry), has recently proclaimed that

"The Muslims have said either we kneel or they're going to kill us.''

ooga booga booga! Be affraid... be very affraid!!

Meanwhile, McCain may have just thrown a logistical wrench in Obama's travel plans for the next week. He indicated that Obama may be in Iraq over the weekend, which for security reasons is typically information that is kept pretty secret. So despite the fact that McCain's criticisms were the ostensible impetus for Obama's current trip abroad, lately he has been:

• complaining that Obama's trip is getting more media coverage
• criticizing Obama's plans to speak in front of the Brandenburg Gate in while in Germany (the plans have been rearranged since)
• leaking Obama's potential itinerary, making security for the trip an added concern/restriction
• criticizing Obama's travel plans overall

Oh... and by the way... after a week-long hiatus, Phil Gramm is back to his advisory role in the McCain campaign (per Robert Novak, so salt grains suggested)... yes, the "nation of whiners" Phil Gramm. This time, though, he's lost his "surrogate" credentials and will merely be an advisor. So McCain was being truthful in his repudiation of Gramm when he said "Phil Gramm doesn't speak for me... I speak for me". True, Senator, but Phil Gramm does speak to you... concerning economics... which you profess to know little about... and he certainly doesn't have the economic interests of the vast majority of Americans in mind, just the vast majority of American corporations.

Good luck hearing any of that from the mainstream media though...