He is pumped up, calling in from his No Surrender
Tour in Iowa. He takes a big whack at Hillary using her own words
and saying that it "must take the willing suspension of disbelief
to not repudiate an advertisement run by a radical left wing
organization" that impugns Petraeus. His zinger: "If you're not
tough enough to repudiate an attack like that, you're not tough
enough to be president."
A few highlights: Without directly taking on his opponents in
the primary he urged them to be "more engaged" on the debate on
Iraq. He thought Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker "helps" the
debate and so do facts on the ground. By January 2009 he thinks
we'll either have shown enough on the ground to garner support from
the American people or we'll be forced out. Not killing or
capturing Al-Sadr was a big mistake and he urged the administration
to take him out early on. Democrats should return MoveOn.org
donations and "denounce it, denounce it, denounce it." Doing better
in the polls and have his mojo back? Yeah it does. There were
serious problems but they were budgetary. Attendance at townhalls
good in Iowa and REALLY good in New Hampshire and South Carolina.
My take away: He is in a positively sunny mood and thinks events
are now on his side. Although he says the No Surrneder tour is
"more important" than the campaign it frankly is his campaign and
is going to early primary states of Iowa, NH, and SC--the states
he's identified as must wins. He has the benefit of timing in that
this debate will be a lot fresher in voters minds than the
immigration debate when they start going to the polls in a few
months. Don't count this man out.