Barack's Iraq Problem

More on Barack's Iraq Hustle from Rick Klein at ABC.

There’s been lots of speculation this week about whether Sen. Barack Obama has an Iraq problem. He does now.

His comments Thursday, saying that he will “continue to refine” his plan to withdraw combat troops from Iraq inside of 16 months, seems likely to leave the campaign on the defensive on this issue for days or weeks.

And it increases the likelihood that his trip to Iraq later this month will not turn out like Obama wants it to.

What's different now?

There will be only one relevant question now out of Obama’s trip now: Do you stand by your plan? Obama is unlikely to give a direct, yes-or-no answer -- and that’s where Sen. John McCain and his allies can and will pounce.

It's one thing to lie about things like campaign finance and FISA. But by flipping on Iraq, Barack is essentially confessing to having adopted a plan for Iraq that was politically expedient rather than realistic.

Obama’s migration to the political center has been well-documented, and is already a frame McCain is building around his candidacy. But Iraq -- this is qualitatively different, an issue that lives on a higher plane, since opposing the war was the rationale for his candidacy in the first place.

Barack is in deep trouble in this election, a fact that goes unnoticed because of the media focus on the moment. A candidate without experience who still carries horrible baggage in his closet and who vanquished a strong nominee by tricking the base into thinking he was an anti-war candidate, wow - that candidate is going to be ravaged by the 527's.