Obama Visited Gym Instead of Troops

Sen. John McCain lashed out at his Democratic rival in a tough new television ad Saturday, accusing him of "going to the gym" while in Germany instead of visiting wounded soldiers, and of doing so because the hospitals would not let television cameras film the visits.

The Republican senator also repeats the charge in an interview to be aired Sunday morning, saying on ABC's "This Week" that "if I had been told by the Pentagon that I couldn't visit those troops, and I was there and wanted to be there, I guarantee you, there would have been a seismic event."

In the ad, an announcer says: "And now, he made time to go to the gym, but cancelled a visit with wounded troops. Seems the Pentagon wouldn't allow him to bring cameras. John McCain is always there for our troops. McCain. Country first."

The ad, which the campaign said would air in "key" states, was created quickly to seize on a controversy just days old. During his trip to Germany, Obama was scheduled to visit the American hospitals at Ramstein and Landstuhl, but cancelled the trips after being told by Pentagon officials that he could only visit in his official capacity as a senator, not as a candidate.

Obama's campaign called the attack a "wildly inappropriate accusation" and said Obama had been trying to avoid letting the wounded soldiers get dragged into a political campaign.

"The last thing [Sen. Obama] wanted was to have injured soldiers get pulled into the back-and-forth of a political campaign," said Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor. "Senator Obama and Senator McCain share the belief that we must do everything we can to honor and support our troops, which is why Senator Obama has met with our men and women in uniform in Iraq and Afghanistan this week and visited wounded soldiers at Walter Reed numerous times."

But McCain's advisers seized on the fact that Obama and his aides have given several different versions of why the visits to the soldiers were canceled.

Initially, Obama said the visits were scrapped out of respect for the troops and to avoid making the visits part of the campaign. A later statement blamed the cancellation on Pentagon rules that bar such visits, but a military spokesman later said Obama would have been welcomed as long as he came without a campaign entourage or media.

That's when the McCain campaign jumped, accusing Obama of choosing not to visit because he couldn't bring the hordes of media that had followed him across Europe.

"Several explanations were offered, none was convincing, and each was at odds with the statements of American military leaders in Germany and Washington," retired Lt. Col. Joe Repya, a Vietnam veteran, said in a statement issued by the McCain campaign. "For a young man so apt at playing president, Barack Obama badly misjudged the important demands of the office he seeks. Visits with world leaders and speeches to cheering Europeans shouldn't be a substitute for comforting injured American heroes."
McCain Ad Says Obama Visited Gym Instead of Troops | The Trail | washingtonpost.com

I'm sure there is a FINE explanation for this one.:rolleyes:

Have a good one!:s4:

Well you must understand why he didn't visit,











1) He was busy working out

and

2) No cameras were allowed inside


Besides the media LOVES Mr.Perfect, this will all go away in a day or two.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rebgirl420

Besides the media LOVES Mr.Perfect, this will all go away in a day or two.

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I don't think so....sounds like alot of stations are running this ad for free. LOL...they said it's the best deal on a t.v. ad so far.:thumbsup:

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49hC9TpP_rY[/YOUTUBE]

Have a good one!:s4:

Great ad.

I love how it points out he's never been to Iraq and hasn't been to Afghanistan in years yet he is definately ready to be commander in chief. The man made sweeping generalizations about the war without talking to General Petraeus for gods sake.

I'm sorry, but that was just horrible.

The tv ad of course.

only goes to show you the true Obama...If he cant have a good photo op then then why do it?

While I agree with what the ad has to say... I felt that it was a very weak message. I would've much preferred to hear Obama's pro war votes, or a short list of the accomplishments of Obama vs McCain. I would've liked to hear about McCains war history vs Obamas. There were so many different ways to go about this.

This ad gave me the sensation of a jealous sibling just looking for something to complain about in order to gain their mothers favor.

McCain does have substance to him as well as good ideas and I'm really wishing he would step up and shine. This ad is one of the crappier political ad's I've seen in a while.

Hopefully things will change gear once the VP's are announced. Let's up so :thumbsup:

This is a result of bad logistics. Otherwise you'd see this on the front page instead of a blog on the WP.

Obama didn't visit the troops....and visited the gym to score 3-pointers for the troops, but he didn't visit the troops, even though they were standing there. Oh, and he visited them a few weeks prior, but he never visits.

Obama Scoring Baskets for troops.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExOQRLuWGhc[/YOUTUBE]

He wasn't allowed to visit the hospital:

Not allowed. Pentagon red-flag.

BTW, I am probably not voting for Obama, unless he seriously fixes his flip-flopping habits, I'm just sick of hearing this bull about how he doesn't want to visit the troops.