McCain Adviser Suggests Obama is 'Playing the Cynical Politics of the Past' on Iraq

Joe Lieberman says the Obama campaign's attack on John McCain's remarks about bringing American troops home from Iraq amount to an "outrageous" distortion.

Speaking on a McCain campaign conference call, Lieberman responded to the Obama campaign's attack on McCain for saying on Good Morning America that the timeline for troop withdrawal from Iraq is "not too important." [corrected]

The senator from Connecticut was especially offended at Obama supporters suggesting McCain fails to understand the sacrifice made by the families of soldiers. Lieberman then underlined the McCain family's long record of military service, including the service in Iraq by McCain's own son.

(The candidate has resisted using his son's service as a campaign talking point, and when a reporter asked if Lieberman's reference to it signaled a change in campaign strategy, McCain's chief foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann said the campaign would not comment.)

The call was also intended to use Obama's attack on McCain's perceived strength of foreign policy to attack Obama's reputation as the change candidate.

"This clearly is a deliberate distortion that is trying to change the subject from the success of the surge in Iraq," said Senator John Thune of South Dakota, who then called McCain, "The change candidate with respect to our strategy in Iraq."

Scheunemann added, "Clearly the Obama campaign is playing the cynical politics of the past."