Obama and Hagel to Iraq
11 July 2008 4:44 pm by Taylor Marsh
BY TAYLOR MARSH
 |
Rumors meet reality? No one in the Obama and Hagel camps are talking, but
the
WSJ is reporting it as “confirmed”:
The buzz this week that Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska is planning
to join Sen. Barack Obama on an up-coming visit to Iraq is correct, two sources
with knowledge of the trip confirmed.A spokesman for Sen. Obama declined to comment on any details or even confirm
the date uncertain trip, citing security concerns. A spokesman for Sen. Hagel
did not respond to requests for comment.While it is standard practice for such trips—known as CODELS, or congressional
delegations—to be bipartisan, in this highly charged election year it
is likely to raise eyebrows that the retiring Nebraskan senator—a prominent
Iraq War critic—is the Republican expected to join the Democratic Party’s
presidential nominee on what is sure to be a closely watched visit to the
region. …
John McCain is going to be spitting bullets over this one. He and Hagel go
way back, to Vietnam. I disagree with the veep rumblings regarding Hagel, but there’s
lots of other benefits to having him hanging around with Barack.
The stacked
deck on general election politics seems to have been thrown in the air.
