Iraq politics

Posted: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 9:02 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under: Security

The New York Times writes, "Though they could have allowed the milestone to be overshadowed by the crisis on Wall Street, Senators John McCain, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama aggressively seized on Iraq. That they did so, in the face of risks for each of them in the handling of the issue, was evidence of the large role all sides believe the war will continue to play in months ahead, even as the weakening economy takes center stage. Of the three, Mrs. Clinton, Democrat of New York, moved the most aggressively, and perhaps most unexpectedly, given the extent to which her vote in 2002 to authorize the war has caused her problems with Democratic primary voters."

More: "While Iraq may have faded from public consciousness a bit, in reflection of a drop in the number of casualties and rising concern about the economy, it remains a politically defining issue for both parties, one sure to shape the arguments about national security this fall. The day’s back-and-forth amounted to a preview of that debate."

The DNC is up with a new Web video tying Bush to McCain on the issue of Iraq. “Bush and McCain: Wrong then, wrong now,” the video concludes.

EMAIL THIS

Comments

To what "risks" do you refer when you mention Barack Obama in connection with Iraq? He was right on the issue from day one and Clinton and McCain were proved wrong. It seems pretty clear that there are no risks to Obama on discussing Iraq, as it demonstrates his superior judgment (and I say that as someone who initially supported the war).

Howard B. (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 9:11 AM)

Obama along with maybe 10-15% population was against this war from day 1 because GOP with the exception of Ron Paul had the guts to understand history, the ongoing cold war mentality we still live in, and how the GOP used 911 for their own political agenda AND partisan politics. We now all have to face the consequences and hubris of this administration.

juan,ft lauderdale,fl (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 9:36 AM)

Quit taking McCain's words out of context. If this is the best the DNC has then I am not too worried.

Michael,FL (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 9:46 AM)

Iraq has never faded from my consciousness, I have never supported the war, and never will, as it has never been worth one drop of American blood, much less the 12 billion dollars a month it is costing AMERICAN taxpayers, while the useless so called "government" of Iraq sit around with their thumbs up their ass. Clintons vote was wrong, but at least she realizes it now, and has a plan. Mccain has no plan-other than the old "stay the course" crap. Our valiant millitary and our economy simply can NOT sustain this miserable blunder!

Steve A. Jonesboro IN (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 10:13 AM)

SEND A COMMENT

PLEASE READ: All comments must be approved before appearing in the thread; time and space constraints prevent all comments from appearing. We will only approve comments that are directly related to the blog, use appropriate language and are not attacking the comments of others.

Message (please, no HTML tags. Web addresses will be hyperlinked):

Your name, city and state (John Doe, Seattle, Wash.):

Your e-mail address (jdoe@msnbc.com):

Your website (it's okay if you don't have one):

Remember me? (We'll keep it private) Remember me?

TRACKBACKS

Trackbacks are links to weblogs that reference this post. Like comments, trackbacks do not appear until approved by us. The trackback URL for this post is: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/trackback.aspx?PostID=778108