BY TAYLOR MARSH
–updated–
Just who is rewriting history? McCain in his own words boomerangs back to target himself.
Meanwhile, Obama’s lack of action is drawing fire.
McCain surrogate Senator Jim DeMint has decided to home* in on an area that was covered around here a lot during the primaries. The fact that Obama didn’t convene a single hearing through the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee he chaired. Obviously, the ability to do something sumstantive lies elsewhere, beyond Obama’s subcommittee, but it still leaves him vulnerable to perception charges, which McCain’s surrogate has decided to exploit. Below is the text of a letter, via the McCain camp, and the first salvo from Senator Jim DeMint, who is the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European Affairs, of which Senator Obama is the chairman:
July 15, 2008
The Honorable Barack Obama
Chairman
Subcommittee on European Affairs
Committee on Foreign Relations
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Obama,
In the coming days, I understand you will travel to Afghanistan for the first
time and visit with a few of our European partners. Like my travels to these
regions, I trust this trip will afford you a unique opportunity to see the
facts on the ground firsthand and witness the work of our brave men and women
who sacrifice so much to secure our freedom.In February, I had the privilege of visiting and talking with our troops
in Iraq and Afghanistan. These brave Americans serve their country with incredible
passion, pride and courage. As you know, NATO’s International Security
and Assistance Force (ISAF) plays an integral part in the current operations
and reconstruction of Afghanistan.There are concerns about the imbalance between some European nations, their
level of commitment to the fight in Afghanistan, and caveats these nations
place on their forces in theater. I trust you will become well acquainted
with these issues. The Bush Administration has worked hard to maintain and
increase the level of forces our European allies have committed to the fight.However, despite these successes, I am concerned our Subcommittee has not
held any hearings on these issues over the last two years. With oversight
of NATO relations and its role in Afghanistan, I believe it is time for us
to focus closely on these issues. As Ranking Member of your Subcommittee on
European Affairs, I would welcome a chance to hold a hearing on NATO’s mission
in Afghanistan upon your return.The success of Afghanistan is critical to the future of NATO and vital to
our efforts to defeat Al Qaeda and the Taliban. As the situation in Afghanistan
grows more tense, it is time for us to hold a hearing on the mission there.
I look forward to working with you to schedule this hearing.
Nobody’s paying attention right now, because it’s summer. But if they’re hitting this now, you can bet McCain’s team will hit it later.
Log this under handing your adversaries an issue with which to beat you over the head. That it comes in an area where Obama has little experience doesn’t help. It’s true he was running for president when he got the chairmanship, but he should have thought ahead at what the perception would be and how Republicans would exploit it. Clinton tried to, but it didn’t work, because Dem primary voters didn’t care. General election voters are likely to feel differently. But we won’t know until the fall, when this attack on Obama shows up in an ad.
But let me add one note of optimism to today’s back and forth. Obama succeeded in getting McCain to respond to him on Afghanistan. McCain hasn’t had Afghanistan on his radar at all, while Obama keeps hitting the point over and over again. Today McCain took the bait. Point to Obama on Afghanistan.
*TM Note: Thanks to JW of New York for reminding me of the proper usage of this phrase, which has now been corrected.
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