McCain Visits Iraq In Fact-Finding Credibility And Image Builder

As Democratic Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton battle — and tarnish — each other in their increasingly-bitter struggle for the Democratic party’s Presidential nomination, virtually-certain Republican nominee John McCain made an unannounced visit to Iraq,complete with official photo of him released by the Air Force.

The imagery could not be better for McCain and worse for the Democrats: McCain’s image will be of a candidate working on big issues, while the Democratic race remains mired in controversies over the issue of race, delegation seatings, hints of legal action in Texas, and comments by Obama’s fiery pastor.

Both McCain and the Democrats are coming out with image shifts this weekend — only McCain’s shift is positive:

John McCain, the likely Republican presidential nominee who has linked his political future to U.S. success in Iraq, was in Baghdad on Sunday for meetings with Iraqi and U.S. diplomatic and military officials, a U.S. government official said.

Details of McCain’s visit, which had been anticipated, were not being released for security reasons, the U.S. Embassy said. It was unclear who he met with; no media opportunities or news conferences were planned.

McCain, a strong supporter of the U.S. military mission in Iraq, is believed to be staying in the country for about 24 hours.

“Senator McCain is in Iraq and will be meeting with Iraqi and U.S. officials,” said Mirembe Nantongo, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

McCain is insisting this is a fact-finding tour, and not a campaign event to promote his image. But the bottom line is it will serve him exactly as that. The release of any photo or news about him fact-finding in Iraq will be stark contrast to the down-in-the-trenches hand-to-hand combat going on among the Democrats, their supporters and each camp’s bloggers.

And McCain is not going alone. He’s going with two Senators who are detested by many on the Democratic left, but who are popular with some independent voters, centrists and Republicans: Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

The photo above is an AP photo released by the Air Force.

UPDATE: Here’s part of how conservative blogger Ed Morrissey sees this trip:

McCain’s visit will have at least one salutary effect — it will force news agencies to cover the drop in violence in Iraq yet again. As the news has gotten better from the effort, it has also become more rare and less prominently placed. For a day or two, newspapers will include the improvements seen from the surge, which McCain had demanded for three years before its eventual implementation.

….Another point that the American media might make is that this is McCain’s eighth trip to Iraq. He has visited in bad times and while improvements were being made. How many trips has Barack Obama made to Iraq? How many meetings has he had with Iraqi leadership?