Tuesday, July 29, 2008

BARACK OBAMA

The NY Times Asks, No, Really, Why Didn't Obama Just Visit the Wounded Troops Alone?

The New York Times writes on the canceled troop visit, but even they can't completely stifle a bit of skepticism on the Obama camp's official explanation.

Assertions in early news reports that the Pentagon had told Mr. Obama he could not visit the medical center were incorrect, said Geoff Morrell, a Pentagon spokesman. He said the military personnel in Germany had made arrangements for Mr. Obama’s visit and were surprised when it was called off.

The cancellation provided one of the few sour notes in an overseas trip that otherwise seemed to be well orchestrated. It offered an opening on a subject, military affairs, that the McCain campaign believes Mr. Obama is vulnerable on.

If the story behind the story of the canceled troop visit has run its course, one question remains: Why didn’t Mr. Obama leave his aides behind, even the retired general, and make the visit by himself?

“Even him going alone would likely be characterized by some as a political event,” Mr. Gibbs said in an interview on Monday, adding, “He decided not to put the troops in that position.”

Yeah, but he met with the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, and accusations that it was political were pretty minimal. Why them and not the injured troops at Landstuhl?

07/29 01:46 PMShare