In London, Obama is forced to address the issue at a press conference:
Meanwhile, the McCain campaign already has a TV ad raising the issue:
(Both via Hot Air) The McCain ad is arguably inaccurate, but it achieves the effect of pushing the controversy into the next news cycle, with fresh coverage by Fox News, ABC, Associated Press, the Politico, the New York Times, CNN and the San Francisco Chronicle. In a campaign press release, McCain supporter Joe Repya — a retired Army lieutenant colonel and Iraq war veteran — says:
“Barack Obama had scheduled a visit with wounded American troops who have served with honor and distinction in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but he broke that commitment, instead flitting from one European capital to the next. Several explanations were offered, none was convincing and each was at odds with the statements of American military leaders in Germany and Washington. 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.”
So now this incident is on the front burner going into the Sunday talk shows.