In Ohio, McCain Repeats Upbeat Iraq Assessment

The McCain campaign expressed support Tuesday for President Bush's call for a measured drawdown in Iraq, but only in a written statement. At public events in Pennsylvania and Ohio, Republican presidential candidate John McCain did not mention the president or the White House decision to reduce troop levels. But he did repeat his upbeat assessment of the situation in Iraq.

"Thanks to Gen. David Petraeus and these brave young Americans, we are winning in Iraq and we will come home with honor," McCain said.

Then came a direct assault on Democratic rival Barack Obama: "Sen. Obama was wrong about Iran. He was wrong about Iraq. He was wrong about Russia. He's wrong about America's national security challenges in the future. And he has no experience, and more importantly, he lacks the judgment to lead this country."

The Obama campaign counters that it was McCain who was wrong for supporting the push to go to war in the first place.

During her crowd-pleasing portion of the rally, vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin included a positive assessment of how the Iraq war is going, referencing another member of her family: Her son, Track, is scheduled to deploy to Iraq soon.

"John McCain refused to break faith with the troops who have now brought victory within sight. And as the mother of one of those troops, he's exactly the kind of man I want as commander in chief," Palin said.