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McCain: Obama Naive and Inexperienced
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ShareMay 15, 2008 2:34 PM
ABC News' Bret Hovell and Jennifer Parker Report: Sen. John McCain said Thursday Sen. Barack Obama's willingness to sit down with the president of Iran shows "naiveté and inexperience and lack of judgment" -- and indicated he will make the issue front-and-center in the general election if Obama becomes the nominee.
The presumptive Republican nominee was questioned about President Bush’s remarks to the Israeli Knesset -– which have been interpreted as an attack on Obama –- this morning when the President said that "some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along."
Bush said negotiating with terrorists and radicals is a "foolish delusion" and then "As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is –- the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history," Bush said.
Watch video of Bush's comments on terror HERE.
The Obama camp responded to McCain: "It is the height of hypocrisy for John McCain to deliver a lofty speech about civility and bipartisanship in the morning and then embrace George Bush's disgraceful political attack in the afternoon. Instead of delivering meaningful change, John McCain wants to continue George Bush’s irresponsible and failed Iran policy by refusing to engage in tough, direct diplomacy like Presidents from Kennedy to Reagan have done," said Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor.
During a Democratic presidential debate in July, Obama was asked if he would be willing to meet separately "without preconditions" during the first year of his administration with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea; Obama said, "I would." However the Obama campaign maintains he would expect certain basic conditions to be met.
Obama fired back against Bush today in a statement that read, in part: "It is time to turn the page on eight years of policies that have strengthened Iran and failed to secure America or our ally Israel. Instead of tough talk and no action, we need to do what Kennedy, Nixon and Reagan did and use all elements of American power -- including tough, principled, and direct diplomacy - to pressure countries like Iran and Syria."
McCain weighed in Thursday, highlighting the president of Iran's comments about Israel.
Watch the VIDEO HERE.
Saying he takes Bush at his word that he wasn't speaking directly of Obama, McCain said, "It does bring up an issue I will be discussing with the American people, and that is why does Barack Obama, Senator Obama want to sit down with a state sponsor of terrorism?" McCain said in the back of his campaign bus.
"What does he want to talk about with, with [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad who said that Israel's a stinking corpse, who said that he wants to wipe Israel off the map, who’s sending the most explosive devices into Iraq, killing Americans?" he said. "The point is that peace through strength is the way we achieve peace in the world. That’s the point. I will debate this issue with Senator Obama throughout this campaign."
Going farther, McCain continued to connect Obama with Ahmadinejad and highlight the Iranian leader's incendiary comments about Israel.
"I think Barack Obama needs to explain why he wants to sit down and talk with a man who is the head of a government that is a state sponsor of terror that is responsible for the killing of brave young Americans and wants to wipe Israel off the map and denies the Holocaust," McCain said.
"It is a serious error on the part of Senator Obama that shows naiveté and inexperience and lack of judgment to say that he wants to sit down across the table from an individual who leads a country that says and says that Israel is a stinking corpse, that is dedicated to the extinction of the state of Israel."
May 15, 2008 in Hunter, Duncan, Kucinich, Dennis, Tancredo, Tom, Thompson, Fred | Permalink | User Comments (300)
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OBAMA IS YOUNGER AND DUMBER! DOWN WITH OBAMA.
Posted by: Brian -CHICAGO | May 15, 2008 2:58:03 PM
Gaffes, errors, and scandals. You mean like confusing sunni with shia on any number of occasions, forgetting you said that the City of New Orleans should tear the ninth ward down, or like setting up one of your developer friends with the land to build a shopping center in Phoenix? Those kinds of gaffes, errors, and scandals?
With John McCain you get the same experience as with Bush -- only add 100 years.
Posted by: Keith | May 15, 2008 2:58:11 PM
If Sen. McCain keeps up with this he might pop an artery from all the excitement. The old man has spoken,ooh we are sacred. Give me a break. Did you hear him today? He'll end the war in Iraq, capture or kill Bin Laden and take us to the promised land in 2013. What medication did his wife give him? Talk about being inexperienced and naive, see who's talking.
Posted by: Oretega M | May 15, 2008 2:58:35 PM
Mcain, I'm Hillary supporter and you will get my vote if OB is a nominee.
Posted by: stephanie | May 15, 2008 3:00:05 PM
Squealing liberals keep it up. Your hate will come back to you ten fold when Obama loses in November and your Messiah's career is over.
Posted by: geevill | May 15, 2008 3:00:54 PM
Nixon went to China.
The Cuban Missile Crisis didn't end civilization as we know it because we were willing to talk to our mortal enemy the Soviet Union.
Carter was able to negotiate a lasting peace between Isreal and Egypt that has heald up for nearly 30 years.
Hell even the Sainted Ronald Reagan was willing to talk to the Russians durring the waning days of the cold war.
Clearly talking to our enemies is appeasement. Which by the way didn't stand for sitting down and talking to Hitler, it stood for the blunderous mistake Chamberlin made when he decided that it was okay if Hitler went ahead and took a part of the sovreign state of Checkoslovakia as long as he promised not to invade the rest of Europe. Another brilliant statement from Bush and his McSock Puppet BFF McCain.
Posted by: QuestionEvil | May 15, 2008 3:01:29 PM
So sad that there continues to be blind sheep being led around by lies............
Come on !! HELP MAKE THIS COUNTRY SOMETHING WE CAN ALL BE PROUD OF !!!!!!
Yes.....WE CAN !!!
Posted by: gothope? | May 15, 2008 3:03:24 PM
The only leader that he'll be speaking with is the Governor of St. Thomas. He'll never be President of the United States.
Posted by: Mack | May 15, 2008 3:04:36 PM
The Cyborg has spoken. Of all the Republican in the USA, see who the Republicans nominated OLD MAN JENKINS. Send that bag of hot air to Florida, he needs to chill in a home now.
Posted by: Chan | May 15, 2008 3:05:44 PM
This argument is always shortsighted. Cheney and Rumnsfeld had loads of experience and look at what that got us. If Obama gets the presidency,I wish him well.
Posted by: huh | May 15, 2008 3:06:08 PM
How are you going to resolve the problems with them if you do not talk to them. Oh right! Their answer is the start war first, then ask questions later. That has been a great sucess so far! McCain and Bush are the naive ones.
Obama'08
Posted by: Kellie | May 15, 2008 3:06:50 PM
Why is not this being shown by msnbc - the BO free 24-hr advertiser.
Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., boasted of his efforts in 2001 to help a handful of African American-owned investment firms in Chicago get a larger share of business with Illinois state pension funds. "And in six months, they got about a half-billion dollars' worth of business simply on their excellence," Obama said.
What he did not say in his speech was that the owner of one of the investment firms, John Rogers of Ariel Capital, is a principal campaign fundraiser. Nor did he reveal that employees of the firms he helped have since contributed to or helped to raise more than $765,000 for his campaigns, according to campaign documents. Nor did he mention that two of the firms have allowed him to use their private jets. Nor did he mention that two of the firms have since been dismissed by the state pension fund for "underperformance."
Posted by: Olbermn3 | May 15, 2008 3:07:43 PM
McCain is wrong. He's not naive and inexperienced. He's scary, radical and knows exactly what he's doing.
I always laughed about liberals stance on Fox News. They didn't want to be interviewed or appear on the network because it "legitimized" them...
Yet directly talking to our terrorist enemies (therefore "legitimizing them) was "okay."
Liberals. Sometimes you just have to laugh.
Posted by: Jo | May 15, 2008 3:07:45 PM
People may forget why Keryy lose to Bush in 2004...
Bush standed very firmly on national security and war against terrorists...
Reps has begun to paint Obama as soft, naive, inexperienced and undetermined on national security issues....
The continuing fight for Obama on this issue will make himself worse...
Posted by: True Truth | May 15, 2008 3:09:45 PM
He'll just razzle and dazzle them with his hope and change schtick. They'll be stupified.
Posted by: Mack | May 15, 2008 3:11:45 PM
Hey, someone forgot a piece of his brain, dentures and frame. Sorry Sen. McCain come pick your stuff. OLD MAN JENKINS IS RIGHT. If McCain becomes president, he'll lose his mind in a few months and Cindy would use him to get her drugs for free.
Posted by: Owen | May 15, 2008 3:11:47 PM
Obama will NEVER be elected. He is so green and acts like in his 20's. Immature, arrogant, and naive.
"Sweetie."
Of course he can connect to younger students better than the mature adults, since he is immature, arrogant(youth is synonymoous with arrogance,) and accordingly inexperienced. Obama certainly doesn't act like 46 years old.
"I visited 57 states."
Our country needs someone with experience, good judgment, and leadership capacity. This someone is NOT Obama.
"Rev.Wright is like my uncle."
Clinton/McCain, or Nader08!
Posted by: minil | May 15, 2008 3:11:57 PM
Not Naive, just an elitist comfortable around Anti-American, anti-Jewish black nationalists and out of touch with regular Amercian
Posted by: geevill | May 15, 2008 3:13:00 PM
Jo,
What about McCain seeking support from a Catholic hating pastor. One who also said that New Orleans deserved to get hit by Katrina. I am Catholic and I live in New Orleans (born and raised). I will never vote for someone who gladly accepts support from a man like that.
Posted by: Kellie | May 15, 2008 3:15:43 PM
This from a guy that is so 'out-here' that he still, after all this time doesn't get the difference between Shiites and Sunni's -- Priceless McCAIN!
McCain Mixes Up Shiites, Sunni Extremists
http://www.npr.org/blogs/news/2008/03/mccain_mixes_up_shiites_sunni.html
Posted by: Sand | May 15, 2008 3:16:24 PM
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