Poor Lindsay

One of the things that the press and Republicans seem to forget is the same thing that McCain's speechwriters so memorably put in Sarah Patin's sneering little pie hole: Barack Obama was a Community Organizer. A good one, apparently (though he takes little credit for it in The Faith of Our Fathers). As a community organizer he had a habit of finding common ground with people of different agendas and aims than his, in order to get their support on things they can agree on. The New York Times and Lindsay Graham seem shocked by this.

And then Lindsay, perhaps worried that he's losing his BFF, says this,

Mr. Emanuel said he did not remember any discussion of Iraq. “Barack has been clear that he is going to stick to his responsible reduction in forces, and he hasn’t changed from that,” he said.

But Mr. Graham, who accompanied Mr. McCain to the meeting, said Mr. Obama took a notably different tone toward Iraq than he had during the campaign, emphasizing the common ground in their views.

“He said that he understands that we had differences but he wanted to let us know that he also understands that we have got to be responsible in how we leave Iraq,” Mr. Graham recalled. “What the Obama-Biden administration has talked about is not losing the gains we have achieved. ”

He added, “Obama does not want to be the guy who lost Iraq when it is close to being won.”

I'm betting on Rahm's memory for this one.

It's smart politics for Obama to reach out to a handful of Republicans with whom he can find common ground on a host of issues, like immigration reform, medical records reform, and climate change, and if McCain can help provide cover for efforts to cut defense spending, all the better. But I doubt they will find agreement on Iraq as long as huckleberries like Graham think we can still "win" in Iraq when they don't know how to define "winning."

UPDATE: Forgotten link restored.