Getting to the bottom of Obama's canceled visit with wounded troops

The Washington Post is jumping ugly on the McCain campaign for supposedly misrepresenting the reasons behind Barack Obama's failure to visit a military hospital in Germany at the tail end of his recent European tour. McCain has an ad up claiming Obama canceled the stop when it became clear he couldn't bring cameras or campaign staff along. According to the WaPo's version of events, however, the real reason behind the decision was the Obama camp's fear that the stop would be perceived as political.

While the Post deserves some credit for trying to sort out this mess, their focus on the McCain ad is misplaced. Their own reporting shows that Obama canceled the announced visit with wounded soldiers for what it now appears was no good reason at all. If Obama had made the visit, without media fanfare (as his campaign now claims had been the plan all along), there is simply no way it would have blown up on him politically. While it's hard to imagine McCain attacking Obama for visiting with wounded soldiers, even if he had done so, any such attack most likely would have backfired on McCain.

More important, even if Obama thought the stop would be politically risky, so what? McCain has made a career out of politically risky moves. If Obama canceled the stop for the reasons given by the Post, then it raises a question far more disturbing than whether McCain's ad is accurate: If Obama can be this weak-kneed over the potential political fallout that might come from visiting wounded soldiers, what sort of leadership can he be counted on to deliver when he is faced with a truly momentous decision, such as sending soldiers into combat in the first place?

In uncovering the real reason for the canceled visit to the military hospital, the Post arguably exposed a flaw in McCain's political ad. But the flaw they inadvertantly exposed in Obama is of far greater significance.