McCainiac

It's time for the half-truths and rube-directed spin on the Iraq War to end. On Thursday John McCain said there are less U.S. troops in Iraq than before the surge, and it's just plain wrong. Barack Obama responded in a speech tonight:

"That’s not true, and anyone running for commander-in-chief should know better. As the saying goes, you’re entitled to your own view, but not your own facts. We’ve got around 150,000 troops in Iraq -- 20,000 more than we had before the surge. We have plans to get down to around 140,000 later this summer -- that’s still more troops than we had in Iraq before the surge. And today, Sen. McCain refused to correct his mistake. Just like George Bush, when he was presented with the truth, he just dug in and refused to admit his mistake. His campaign said it amounts to 'nitpicking.'"

In lieu of admitting an error, the McCain campaign was reduced to claims of "semantics" and "verb tenses," that McCain meant the troops would be drawn down...I dunno, maybe in one hundred years?

But there's more:

The problem, however, was that this was not McCain's only gaffe. During the same Thursday conference when he misstated troop levels, he also argued that conditions were "quiet" in Mosul. That same day, three suicide bombers killed 30 in the city.

It's lousy for McCain that he has to run on this bum War he did nothing to prevent, lousy that he can't use General Petraeus in his campaign ads anymore, lousy that he can't run against a Democrat who voted as he did on the War.

And too bad for him that the Dem he is running against plays hardball:

Senior political officials tell Politico's Mike Allen that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).is likely to hold a huge rally Tuesday night in the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, the site of the Republican National Convention from Sept. 1 to 4.

Tuesday is the night of the final Democratic primaries, and the choice of venue is a mischievous, aggressive way for Obama to unofficially kick off the general election campaign against Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). The location gives huge meaning to the moment, with Obama likely to frame a tough case against his new opponent in the very hall where McCain will accept his party’s nomination.

Could be the facility booking of the year. Per niwind:

It will be considered a shot to the bow of McCain and it will show that he ain't Kerry or Dukasis. And not only that it will totally psych out the Republicans and totally overshadow McCain when he takes that podium in the fall. Because every political pundit will mention that Obama started his campaign there and he will lack in comparison to whatever speech Obama has planned.

Not only that, it would signal how this year the Dems are going to take the fight to the Republicans by literally beginning it on the ground in which they will anoint their nominee.

Absolutely brilliant...

And let the games begin.