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ON THE TRAIL

July 19, 2008

As Barack Obama readied for a high profile trip to Baghdad, Republican John McCain launched a new television ad accusing his presidential rival of switching positions on Iraq "to help himself become president." Meanwhile, Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said the German leader will welcome Obama to her office in Berlin on Thursday. The Democratic hopeful's stop is part of a tour of Europe and the Mideast aimed at burnishing his foreign policy credentials. McCain's criticism wasn't limited to the ad. He said Friday that Obama would face a far less secure Iraq "if we had done what he wanted to do." His 30-second ad, running on national cable and in 11 battleground states, is the hardest hit aimed at Obama so far by McCain. "Barack Obama never held a single Senate hearing on Afghanistan," the ad's announcer says. "He hasn't been to Iraq in years. He voted against funding our troops. Positions that helped him win his nomination. Now Obama is changing to help himself become president."

Former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm resigned Friday from his role as GOP presidential candidate John McCain's campaign co-chairman, hoping to quiet the uproar that followed his comments that the United States had become a "nation of whiners" whose constant complaints about the U.S. economy show they are in a "mental recession." Gramm, a past presidential candidate, made the remarks more than a week ago. McCain immediately distanced himself from the comments, but they brought a steady stream of criticism just as McCain is trying to show he can help steer the country past its current financial troubles. Gramm said in a statement late Friday that he is stepping down to "end this distraction."