McCain Giving Utmost Attention To Georgia

Washington Post: Republican Candidate Has Been Dwelling On Crisis As A President Might

(Washingtonpost.com)  This story was written by Dan Eggen and Robert Barnes.

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Standing behind a lectern in Michigan this week, with two trusted senators ready to do his bidding, John McCain seemed to forget for a moment that he was only running for president.

Asked about his tough rhetoric on the ongoing conflict in Georgia, McCain began: "If I may be so bold, there was another president . . ."

He caught himself and started again: "At one time, there was a president named Ronald Reagan who spoke very strongly about America's advocacy for democracy and freedom."

With his Democratic opponent on vacation in Hawaii, the senator from Arizona has been doing all he can in recent days to look like President McCain, particularly when it comes to the ongoing international crisis in Georgia.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili says he talks to McCain, a personal friend, several times a day. McCain's top foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann, was until recently a paid lobbyist for Georgia's government. McCain also announced this week that two of his closest allies, Sens. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), would travel to Georgia's capital of Tbilisi on his behalf, after a similar journey by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The extent of McCain's involvement in the military conflict in Georgia appears remarkable among presidential candidates, who traditionally have kept some distance from unfolding crises out of deference to whoever is occupying the White House. The episode also follows months of sustained GOP criticism of Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, who was accused of acting too presidential for, among other things, briefly adopting a campaign seal and taking a trip abroad that included a huge rally in Berlin.

"We talk about how there's only one president at a time, so the idea that you would send your own emissaries and really interfere with the process is remarkable," said Lawrence Korb, a Reagan Defense Department official who now acts as an informal adviser to the Obama campaign. "It's very risky and can send mixed messages to foreign governments. . . . They accused Obama of being presumptuous, but he didn't do anything close to this."

But McCain and his aides say his tough rhetoric on the Georgia crisis, along with his personal familiarity with the region, underscores the foreign policy expertise he would bring to the White House.

His focus on the dispute has also allowed McCain to distance himself somewhat from President Bush, who has been sharply criticized by many conservatives for moving too slowly to respond to Russia's military incursion into Georgia and South Ossetia, the breakaway province at the heart of the dispute. McCain's first statement on the conflict last Friday came before the White House itself had responded.

In often-lengthy remarks about Georgia this week on the campaign trail, McCain repeatedly talked of how many times he had been to the region, let it be known that he had talked daily with Saakashvili since the crisis began and made it clear that there had been times he thought Bush's response could have been stronger.

He provided a primer for why Americans should care about the "tiny little democracy" and tried to tie the foreign crisis with a domestic one: oil. Georgia is "part of a strategic energy corridor affecting individual lives far beyond" the region, he said.

"His statements have been very presidential," said John R. Bolton, a former U.N. ambassador under Bush who has since become one of the sharpest critics of the administration's recent foreign policy. "These are the kinds of things that the president should have been saying from the beginning."

At the same time, McCain also appears sensitive to going too far. In remarks both Wednesday and yesterday, for example, McCain explicitly ruled out direct military action against Russia, a step advocated by some hard-line conservatives.

"We want to avoid any armed conflict, and we will not have armed conflict," McCain said at a fundraiser yesterday in Edwards, Colo. "That's not the solution to this problem. But we have to stand up for freedom and democracy as we did in the darkest days."
McCain's ties to Saakashvili go back to the 1990s, when the future leader of the "Rose Revolution" was a student at George Washington University. In an interview this week on CNN, Saakashvili said he was "talking to Senator McCain several times a day."

"You know, I think he spends less time on his presidential campaign these days and lots of time on Georgia," Saakashvili said. "And I really appreciate that, because Senator McCain has been fighting for freedom of Georgia for many, many years."

He added a moment later: "And the same for Senator Obama."

The Obama campaign has been generally cautious in its remarks about the Georgia conflict, and the campaign yesterday declined to comment on the appropriateness of McCain's role. But earlier this week, Obama adviser Susan Rice said McCain "may have complicated the situation" with his early tough rhetoric on the dispute.

"John McCain shot from the hip," Rice said on MSNBC, calling his initial statement "very aggressive, very belligerent."

Lieberman, one of McCain's most ardent and vocal supporters, responded by criticizing Obama's more cautious first statement on the Georgia situation an example of "moral neutrality" that showed his "inexperience."

By Wednesday, however, both McCain and Obama had come together to praise the Bush administration's announcement of humanitarian aid and the secretary of state's diplomatic journey. McCain also told reporters that "this isn't the time for partisanship, sniping between campaigns," and declined to comment on Rice's or Lieberman's remarks.

Barnes reported from the campaign trail in Michigan and Colorado.

[toldyouso12]

Then McCain should be shown delivering hot bottled water to dehydrated babies while saying how he hopes Chzeckoslavakia can settle their differences and that Atlanta will never be the same if the Russians don''t get out of Georgia.

[lordmi]

Well, McWar.
Please, answer the questions, if You pretend to speak so loud ( an no one gave You the rigjht to speak on behalf of American people. No ONE).
So here are the questions for You:
How about thousands killed by fascist Saakashvili in South Ossetia %u201Cminor conflict%u201D?
How about destroying to ruins the Tskhinvali , the capital of South Ossetia by fascist Saakashvili %u201C?
So You, McWar, do support fascist Saakashvili, who is shooting this people, people, he wishes to belong to Georgia, so %u2013 his own people?
I do not care about Your prison experience., cause You do not care about people ANYWHERE.
You are selfish, old, low-minded , angry person. Living on beer profit , leading as to war.
More war, and more war %u2013 that is Your sense.
Shame on You.
And shame on those, who donates him and intend to vote.
You want more war %u2013 go for McWar.

[ragnar30066]

There is a lot of stuff in here that is clearly written by people who were not around during the cold war. I spent my school years practicing "duck and cover" and evacuation to the basement where the civil defense rations were stored. I spent most of my adult life wondering when, more than if, World War III would begin. And then, thanks to Reagan, Solzhenitsyn and Gorbachev, the war was lost by the Soviet Union without the expected loss of tens or hundreds of millions of lives.

Now Putin wants to bring back the "good old days" of when he was an officer in the KGB, the Soviet secret police. Bush was "indisposed" at the Olympics as he was on 911 and unprepared to respond effectively, Obama was vacationing and clearly in need of some consultation before even expressing an opinion. Only McCain instantly understood the the situation and what was at stake. Of these three, only McCain is prepared for the proverbial "3 A.M." call. We can only speculate about Hillary, because the New York news media apparently still has her blacked out.

Hey, who elected these guys that keep the news about Hillary and Edwards from us unless they want us to hear it, anyway?

[wellhell3]

Somebody needs to be helping and showing strength in this crisis...if Obscamma had his way, we''d just go over there and smoochie the Russians as well as radical Islam.

[stn_sage]

...Only McCain instantly understood the the situation and what was at stake. Of these three, only McCain is prepared for the proverbial "3 A.M." call....
Posted by ragnar30066 at 02:17 PM : Aug 15, 2008
-----------------------
WHAT?! You''re dreaming! MCCAIN?! That''s a laugh!
You want to put a guy with declining mental function hovering with his finger on the button?! A guy who doesn''t know the Shiites from the Sunnis when he''s in charge of the Foreign Relations Cmte when his party had the majority---and Lieberman had to whisper in his ear and inform him!? Get REAL! We NEED competence, and that IS NOT McCain!

Granted, I''m willing to agree, that quite frankly, there''s not much of a choice! We can only be thankful that HRC didn''t get the nomination then there would be NO hope at ALL!

[zerato-2009]

Many called the obama to be presumptuous when he talked to the leaders of western europe. Where is that outrage about mccain continually talking to the georgian president and sending his envoys, graham and lieberman to georgia. When did mccain corwon himself and start running foreign policy on his own. The georgian lobbyist Scheunemann, that helps run mccain''s campaign is earning his money from georgia and I am sure he will get a great bonus.

[allurfears]

McCAIN SENIOR ADVISER SCHEUNEMANN IS TIED TO LATEST BUSH ADMINISTRATION BRIBERY SCANDAL

Randy Scheunemann took $160,000 from Stephen Payne. Payne was caught ON TAPE last week SELLING ACCESS to Bush and Administration officials IN EXCHANGE for CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE BUSH LIBRARY. Payne said he would arrange meetings with Dlck Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, and other senior officials in return for a payment of $250,000 towards the Bush library in Texas. Scheunemann and Associates represented Payne in his overseas lobbying. At a taped undercover meeting last week, Payne said Scheunemann had been %u201Cworking with me on my payroll for five of the last eight years%u201D.


Payne, claims to have raised more than $1m for the Republican party in recent years

Payne travelled with Bush and Cheney on multiple overseas trips.

Payne is on the DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

Payne agreed a $2m deal with the Kazakh government to arrange a visit by Cheney to the central Asian country. Cheney then went to Khazakstan and lavished PRAISE on the dictatorial regime of "President" Nazarbayev.

More Info & Video Here:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article4322684.ece

[noah1110]

This proves that McCain would be a foreign policy disaster for the US. The man is incompitant and does not know what he is talking about. ''we are all georgians now? What is he talking about.

Isn''t McCain being a bit upity and presumtuous?

McCain=WAR=BUSH

[rosieod4prez]

Meanwhile, barack is back in Hawaii trying to find his roots.

Where is he now when the world needs him. Sure, he is willing to speak out in Europe to a crowd assembled to hear a concert, but when the chips are down and platitudes will no longer suffice - he''s on vacation.


No wonder the Gallup poll has it in a tie now. Every week more and more people understand Obama for what he is, one continuously changing story... All show and no go.

[realpatriot1]

Wellhell3,

Someone is showing strength in this crisis..Putin! Not Bush. Not Rice. Not McCain.

The time to show strength was before the invasion. While the Russian troops were amassing on the border Bush was hob-knobbing with Putin in Beijing. He must be laughing his *** off at Bush.

All we can do now is to cut our losses which is what Rice is doing with this ceasefire agreement which rewards the Russian incursion with territory.

Meanwhile our allies who Republicans think don''t matter don''t care. They''re all Russian oil & gas customers.

[rosieod4prez]

Wait a minute, I hear from a reliable source that Barack Obama has finally swung into action over the Georgia issue...


"Tell those commies that if they touch one suburb of Atlanta, I''m going to have to talk to them, with conditions this time, right after noon-day prayers!

[avembe]

And in the 21st century, NO country should invade another one....
Had Obama talked the way Mc CAIN did about Russia/Georgia he would have been "presumptuous" or Uppity...
And EVEN if Mc CAIN talks that loud to Russia by even accusing Russia for restoring the empire(which is completely irresponsible)what EXACTLY are the USA REALLY able to do against Russia regarding the incredible debt the country''s facing and WILL HAVE to reduce one way or another, not to mention the 2 wars that haven''t been finished
Does he plan to ask money to CHINA,JAPAN and SOUTH KOREA?
Guyz money IS necessary for ANY war

[bretster7]

RosieOD4pres said,
"Tell those commies that if they touch one suburb of Atlanta, I''''m going to have to talk to them, with conditions this time, right after noon-day prayers!





Rosie, that was friggen hilarious. Does Obama think Georgia is the 56th or the 57th state. LOL

[bretster7]

realpatriot said,
The time to show strength was before the invasion. While the Russian troops were amassing on the border Bush was hob-knobbing with Putin in Beijing. He must be laughing his *** off at Bush.




Sorry , but you can''t have it both ways, I know you libs forget what you have said in the past. I thought it was not up to us to meddle in the affairs of other soverighn nations. That we should not be pre-emptive. I would bet my last dollar (before Obama''s tax plan steals it) that if Bush had in some way aided the Georgians with troop support or supplies, so they could strike first, you would be ******** th loudest as to how wrong it is to do so. You guys are so scizoid.

[bretster7]

NEWS FLASH!!!

Senator John McCain asked President Bush and Defense Secretary Bob Gates for an emergency meeting to go over his plan to send 3 Brigades to Atlanta.

When asked why send soldiers to Atlanta, Senator McCain said "We gotta show these Ruskies we can protect Georgia!"




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by FrootLoopSAT




Sorry Froot, Rosie beat you to the punch. Just another typical lib, who has to steal ideas from others , because you have none of your own. The original was funny, yours was just plain *** stupid

[rosieod4prez]

Hey frootloops (how appropriate), chech out this web site.
http://www.gallup.com/

Now, I know you libs like to live in denial, but sometimes you have to live with reality.

[realpatriot1]

bretster,

I''m not having it both ways. I didn''t say that we should invade. We should have gotten our allies involved in a United front to quietly talk to the Russians before there were boots on th ground. We would''ve done so wih the approval of the Georgian governemtn, so there''s no comparison to our rpe-emptive Iraqi invasion if that''s what you''re trying to say.

[bretster7]

NEWS FLASH!!!

Senator John McCain asked President Bush and Defense Secretary Bob Gates for an emergency meeting to go over his plan to send 3 Brigades to Atlanta.

When asked why send soldiers to Atlanta, Senator McCain said "We gotta show these Ruskies we can protect Georgia!"




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by FrootLoopSAT





Typical liberal to side with a communist regime.....LOL

[bretster7]

Hey frootloops (how appropriate), chech out this web site.
http://www.gallup.com/

Now, I know you libs like to live in denial, but sometimes you have to live with reality.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by RosieOD4Prez



Exactly, if the results were to the contrary, it would be the headline story on cBS

[bretster7]

realpatriot said,
I''''m not having it both ways. I didn''''t say that we should invade. We should have gotten our allies involved in a United front




You mean like we did before we went into Iraq, after the 17th U.N Resolution? You mean like that?

[realpatriot1]

bretster,

You mean like when the world wanted to finish the inspection before agreeing to invade with us and we decided to go it alone because we KNEW they had WMD?

Is that what you mean jackass?

[bretster7]

Rosie Donut Bumper, et al,

Let-s face it. The only poll that really counts is one on November 4th.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by FrootLoopSAT




Whats with the homosexual insults there Froot. I thought you libs were the tollerant ones. It is the mean old conservatives that are the homophobes, and the ones who would use such disparaging comments, right? Not an enlightened, open minded liberal. Just another example of you hypocrisy

[luvienne]

Mccain is an incident waiting to happen. He and his advisers are complicite and this should be investigated. Is he being presumptous now? Is he protecting their paychecks? Is he bypassing Bush and now acting president? Does anyone have enough guts to say Mccain is looking for World War III to win this election?

[bretster7]

bretster,

You mean like when the world wanted to finish the inspection before agreeing to invade with us and we decided to go it alone because we KNEW they had WMD?

Is that what you mean jackass?




Did I call you a name? Speaks volumes no?

[bretster7]

Sorry you are so pitifully uninformed there realpatriot. I see the revisionist history your side has thrown out over the past three years has got you convinced, that no one else in the world thought Sadam had WMD''s except Bush and Cheney. Why don''t you look up what your Icons on the left had to say about WMD''s and the Iraq invasion. See what HillBill, Reid, and Pelosi all had to say.

[rosieod4prez]

"btw: if you voted for Bush in the last election, your ''right'' to a polical opinion has proved irrelevant. - Posted by FrootLoopSAT


I believe this is when fruitloop invoked his right to intrepret things as a liberal. BTW frootloop - you didn''t have anything to do with poor spy work did you ?

"You mean like when the world wanted to finish the inspection before agreeing to invade with us and we decided to go it alone because we KNEW they had WMD?
- realpatriot


So, what part of Saddam''s explaination as to why he didn''t admit that he lacked WMDs did you not understand ? The Dictator was NEVER going to let us confirm he didn''t have WDMs, so the UN role would NEVER have been completed.


Sheesh - some folks!


Obama likes''em dumb - it''s the only voters he can find.



Dems - they would have been better off nominating...

[james77773]

McCain wants US in another WAR, give him an access to the red button!!!

[bretster7]

If it looks like a jacka$$ and
Brahs like a jacka$$ and
it posts like a jacka$$,
it must be a JACKA$$!!!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by FrootLoopSAT





Wow !!!!!! You are brilliant. Another liberal intellectual. LOL

[rosieod4prez]

"The only poll that really counts is one on November 4th. - Posted by FrootLoopSAT



WOW! You aren''t the typical liberal. Hat''s off to you sir! Every other liberal on this site would have complained about the Supreme court decision.

[realpatriot1]

bretster,

Plenty of othrs thought he had WMD but only Cowboy George wanted to halt the inspections ang go it alone.

No revisionism there.

[bretster7]

McCain wants US in another WAR, give him an access to the red button!!!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by james77773




Congrats james77773,
You get the award for the most inane comment on this thread.

[realpatriot1]

RosiePrez,

What do you think the IAEA was doing? At the time Bush told them to get out Sadaam was in compliance.

[bretster7]

Rosie Donut Bumper YOU are a fool!
But, it is understandable...you are a Repug!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by FrootLoopSAT



Rosie, I think you struck a nerve. I love to see it when the lefties can''t bring anything to a discussion but insults and name calling.
I will leave you to keep getting under their skin, I have some errands to run

[rosieod4prez]

"Did I call you a name? Speaks volumes no? - Posted by bretster7



Most likely, not to him. It is an entitlement for a liberal to have one set of rules and everyone else another, when debating.

However, the good news is... Not only liberals read this junk. Every once in a while, a few wandering souls may read a post even when they don''t have a profile. It is then, in that glimmer of light, that the liberal earns another vote against Obama for being a mindless sycophant that shows his hatred.

[james77773]

McCain wants US in another WAR, give him an access to the red button!!! McCain likes to play with guns! Hide your kids!!!

[bretster7]

James...you are NOT inane....you a preceptive.
It''''s getting close to November.
It''''s time of the Repugs to break out the scare tactics.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by FrootLoopSAT

McCain wants US in another WAR, give him an access to the red button!!!






What???? And what James posted is NOT a scare tactic? LOL
That is the one you libs have been using since the first of the year. LOL

[mcvet-1]

McSlime can''t wait to start another war!! LOL You think we got problems now, just wait. If this pathetic loser get''s his puggie little fingers on that button, KaBOOM! SIEG HEIL McSlime

[rosieod4prez]

"Plenty of othrs thought he had WMD but only Cowboy George wanted to halt the inspections ang go it alone. - realpatriot1


Funny, I seem to remember a vote in Congress.

[realpatriot1]

Rosie struck a nerve and is having an anuerism.

[mcvet-1]

ou get the award for the most inane comment on this thread.

Posted by bretster7 at 04:26 PM : Aug 15, 2008

How''s that? I''ll bet I heard 30 people this morning alone say the EXACT same thing so you got to explain that one to me. Now stand... let''s be a good fascist today!! Sieg Heil McSlime

[bretster7]

Are are right Jacka$$!
Talking issues with you Repugs is like trying to teach algebra to a Special Ed class.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by FrootLoopSAT at 04:30 PM : Aug 15, 2008




So now you are making fun of the developementally disabled? You are sick. You are right Rosie... another example of the liberal double standard.

[rosieod4prez]

"Talking issues with you Repugs is like trying to teach algebra to a Special Ed class. - Posted by FrootLoopSAT



Hmmmm - sounds like a Democratic pork job you got there frootloop. Glad they could find SOMETHING for you.

[mcvet-1]

Tell you what jacka$$.
Pick an issue.
You tell me why Obama is bad or McCain is good.
We''''ll talk.

Posted by FrootLoopSAT at 04:32 PM : Aug 15, 2008

Oop''s now you got em''. THIS they can NOT do...

[rosieod4prez]

realpatriot1 - is still playing with his nerve and having an ***.

[mcvet-1]

Funny, I seem to remember a vote in Congress.

Posted by RosieOD4Prez at 04:32 PM : Aug 15, 2008

If you hadn''t of dropped out of the 6th Grade you''d be able to read and understand things! Congress gave the Commander in Chief Authority to us force IF NECESSARY! I would have expected the same of any congress...it has happened so many times in our history and that Commander in Chief has shown the good judgment to find OTHER ways to solve the problem... they used our troops ONLY as a last resort. Bush? HE LIED to us and sent them when it wasn''t NECESSARY in any way. THERE was no smoking gun and NO reason to stop the inspectors HE, GEORGE W. BUSH did that ALL BY HIMSELF... well maybe he had the help of the Gestapo Chief Shooter Cheney!! SIEG HEIL BUSH!! EVERYONE!! SIEG HEIL BUSH!!

[rosieod4prez]

"Jacka$$...issue please! - Posted by FrootLoopSAT




I believe he''s talking to McVet.


But if you don''t mind McVet - let me present an issue.


Obama claims he has never been schooled in Muslim Religious teachings. I''m calling him a liar.

[mcvet-1]

So now you are making fun of the developementally disabled? You are sick. You are right Rosie... another example of the liberal double standard.

Posted by bretster7 at 04:33 PM : Aug 15, 2008

Ummm? Sparky YOU just PROVED his point... But then I guess you wouldn''t notice that now would you? You REALLY should consider a night course or two in Reading... You got that sucker 180% OFF!! Sieg Heil McSlime!!

[james77773]

McCain wants US in another WAR, give him an access to the red button!!! McCain likes to play with guns! Hide your kids!!!

[realpatriot1]

bretster,

I thought you were leaving. Was that because you had nothing else to say about Iraqi War "revisinist" history or because you ran out of revisions?

[mcvet-1]

Hmmmm - sounds like a Democratic pork job you got there frootloop. Glad they could find SOMETHING for you.

Posted by RosieOD4Prez at 04:34 PM : Aug 15, 2008

Well he''s asking for a ISSUE to discuss... Why not propose one and discuss it! It''s easy. Economy is a good start, that''s number one on EVERYONE''S list. Have you ANY evidence in any form that "Trickle Down" will work THIS time when it has failed EVERY time before?? Sieg Heil McSlime