The more days this gets, the worse it is for Obama. Asked about it in Ohio yesterday, Obama had this to say

Well, I don’t think that General Clark had the same intent as the Swift Boat ads that we saw four years ago. I reject that analogy.

Yes, because the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth were actually telling the truth, and Wesley Clark is criticizing John McCain based on his saying something that he never said. Think back to John Kerry, who made a satire of his own service because he would bring it up at the drop of a hat. He arrived at the Boston Democratic Convention in a mocked up swift boat, if you remember. This is something that John McCain simply does not do, along with mentioning the present-day Iraq service of his sons.

McCain has never said his military service solely qualified him for the presidency as Clark purposely and wrongly characterized it. It is one aspect, and one aspect alone. If I was advising Obama, I would say to lay off McCain’s qualifications. If those are the terms of battle, Obama will lose in a landslide.

This is an Obama trend, actually. Part of his strategy is creating opponent positions that do not exist, such as his claim that the Republicans were going to mention he was black (you must say it with a whisper), which has not happened, and won’t happen. Or that the GOP was going to spread the rumor he was a Muslim, which has not happened. Indeed, if you wanted to know who thinks Obama might be a Muslim, you should have been with me at the Hillary Clinton rally outside the DNC rules committee meeting last month.*

Obama has adopted a projection tactic, throwing this preconceived vitriol over his head and handing the empty bucket to his opponents. If they are smart, the Republicans ought to smack him back over the head with it.

*Someone remind me to getting around to posting some of the interviews I did.