The McCain strategy to win the Iraq debate

The McCain camp is swinging big, attacking Obama for not visiting Iraq recently. You figure Obama will very likely take a trip to Iraq after the primary is over, so I would guess this memorable attack is an effort by the McCain camp to diminish that trip as political.

"He really has no experience or knowledge or judgment about the issue of Iraq and he has wanted to surrender for a long time," the Arizona senator added. "If there was any other issue before the American people, and you hadn't had anything to do with it in a couple of years, I think the American people would judge that very harshly."....

Over the weekend, Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of McCain's top surrogates, laid the groundwork for McCain's criticism in a television interview in which he noted Obama's absence from Iraq and floated the idea that Obama and McCain should go together to be briefed by Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Their goal seems to be to paint Obama's Iraq position as political expedience rather than the "toughness" and (unpopular) "judgment" of McCain. That's the ground where they want to fight over Iraq. Not right or wrong, but "moral" and "crass political."

They're trying to turn the Iraq debate from a policy issue into a character issue.

Later: (NYTimes) "Senator John McCain stood before hundreds of flag-waving veterans and their families on Monday and vowed not to waver in his support of the Iraq war. “Even,” he said, “if I must stand athwart popular opinion.”.....

Also: McCain goes hardline on N. Korea, blasting the Bush administration for being too soft.