Apparently Obama's got 'em, but they don't reflect particularly well on him, as PowerLine reports. What amazes me more than his preference for sightseeing rather than visiting wounded soldiers in Germany is that -- again -- the allegedly masterful campaigner seems unaware of or indifferent to the sort of message these choices send. We must conclude that is either a) a fool, or b) cynical enough to write off the yellow-ribbon crowd as already lost to him and not worth the trouble of pandering.
3 comments:
Maybe you and I run in different circles, but pretty much my entire platoon is voting Obama in November, and so are their wives. A handful are choosing to sit out/stay home instead, but anyway, I see a considerable amount more support among among the "yellow ribbon crowd" than the likes of Blackfive or Powerline tend to give Obama credit for.
Also, I'm posting this from my laptop in the laundry room at NTC, with hundreds of soldiers walking by and giving me curious looks for (I assume) my big Obama '08 sticker on the back of my laptop. Either that or the Longhorn sticker catches the eye.
Anyway, on the same issue, is a liberal's take on the Not-Visiting-Wounded-Troops story:
Obsidian Wings: Visiting Landstuhl
Long story short - DoD didn't want it to look like a campaign stop so they told him he couldn't bring his campaign staff, and Obama didn't have a feasible way to work out the logistics.
I'll grant that this takes the harsh light off the schedule change, but it doesn't really change the reflection on his much-vaunted campaigning skill. With such a reasonable explanation at hand, why would he leave it to the blogosphere to explain his motivations?
As far as circles go, my own leans slightly toward McCain, but is pretty mixed, from hardcore Obamaniacs to Ron Paul writers-in. So I realize that Obama is certainly not without military support. My point is that (in the military community) anyone who's ever going to support him already does, and for reasons that have already been put forth to the general public. Further efforts specifically to ingratiate servicemembers would likely bring little fruit and could alienate other supporters. I personally see this calculation as cynical, much as I've seen his previous comments to and about the military as cynical and alien.
Actually I disagree that the military seems more alien to Obama than McCain. From his policy papers published on his website to his legislative voting record, Obama's policies and priorities seem to be far more in tune with the concerns of ordinary servicemen and veterans than McCain's. Which is sad, given that McCain actually served and Obama didn't.
That being said, you can't do much better than a front page Washington Post story basically calling McCain's ads/attacks on this issue dishonest. Or to put it more gently, that the allegations have "no evidence" of truth.
It frustrates me to watch this unfold, because it really is a standard case of confirmation bias for those who have already long believed that Democrats are weak on defense and don't understand the military. Also, it's frustrating to see that the press isn't willing to call McCain out on his chronic lying problem simply because he has a reputation for straight talk.
Anyway, once I get back into civilization I might get a better opportunity to discuss this further with you.
And welcome home dude. Glad to see you made it back.
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