Political Insider: Obama's Hamas Nod
Posted By Adam DickterPolitical Insider: Obama's Hamas Nod
It seems like a dream press release for the Republicans: Hamas backs Obama.
But evidently it's true. At least in the words of one Hamas spokesman.
"We like Mr. Obama, and we hope that he will win the elections," Ahmed Yousuf, Hamas' top political adviser in the Gaza Strip, told WorldNetDaily and WABC Radio in New York.
"I do believe [Obama] is like John Kennedy, a great man with a great principle. And he has a vision to change America, to [put] it in a position to lead the world community, but not with humiliation and arrogance."
Never mind that Obama has consistently said he supports the current U.S. isolation of Hamas until such time as it recognizes Israel's right to exist and renounces violence. He draws a distinction with his openness to talk to Iran because that is an established state government.
Evidently some in Hamas regard Obama is their best chance of being taken seriously by the new presidential administration.
But Republican John McCain wasted no time making hay of it, sending out a fundraising letter warning that "Barack Obama's foreign policy plans have even won him praise from Hamas leaders" and repeating Yousef's quote.
"We need change in America, but not the kind of change that wins kind words from Hamas, surrenders in Iraq and will hold unconditional talks with Iranian President Ahmadinejad," the letter continues.
One can almost imagine the field day the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) will have with this when they launch their pro-McCain ads. And who can blame them? Before that the best they had was Jimmy Carter's silly Mideast diplomacy jaunt, which has been dismissed by almost every Democrat that matters.
At the same time, the GOP in North Carolina, the next big primary battleground, is running ads exploiting Obama's ties with radical preacher Jeremiah Wright. In that case McCain, in a bid for the high ground, has asked the party not to run the ads, even as Obama's campaign denounces the "politics of association" and recalls his pledge to run a clean campaign.