Senator Hagel to join Obama in Iraq

The presence of Mr Hagel, a decorated war veteran who was wounded in Vietnam, alongside Mr Obama, will fuel speculation that he could be in line for a role in a Democratic administration should the Illinois senator win the White House. He is not standing for re-election in Nebraska this year.

It's been a good political week for Obama, but the best news by far is that his upcoming Iraq trip will feature special guest star Chuck Hagel. Before this announcement, it was a pretty safe bet that the McCain campaign would hijack the media's coverage of Obama's visit with a lot of press releases about how many days it's been since Obama visited Iraq, and how much beachfront property McCain owns in Basra, and all the rest. Rather than being a political boost for Obama, it would almost certainly play into a media narrative about his weakness on Iraq. Now, the story will be that Obama is in Iraq, accompanied by a respected Republican Senator who happened to serve as co-chair of McCain's 2000 presidential run. That's a very, very different story, and a major coup for the Obama campaign.

If Hagel joins Obama to Iraq, it’ll mean that two arrogant senators will have to admit that McCain supported the right strategy, not just one. When they visit with Petraeus, Odierno and Crocker, they’ll have to admit that things are much different than what they’ve been whining about the past 2 years. They’ll have to admit that progress is being made on the political front and the military front. They’ll have to admit that reconciliation is happening. They’ll even have to admit that the Iraqi military is stepping up and that they’re getting more proficient.