Fri Jul 25, 2:03 PM Pacific • posted by Jed Lewison
Of timetables and flip-flops
BLITZER: Why do you think [Maliki] said that 16 months is basically a pretty good timetable?
MCCAIN: He said it's a pretty good timetable based on conditions on the ground. I think it's a pretty good timetable, as we should -- or horizons for withdrawal. But they have to be based on conditions on the ground.
MCCAIN: For him [Obama] to talk about dates for withdrawal, which basically is surrender in Iraq after we're succeeding so well is, I think, really inexcusable.
So would it be fair to conclude from this that in McCain's own terms, he would rather a lose a war than lose an election?
Update (3:23PM): In funny bit of understatement, NBC's First Read notes that McCain's embrace of a 16-month timetable is something he "probably never would have said a week ago."
And here's video: