nine years complete withdrawal is in the white house s assessment, is this a victory for the united states and if i could bundle up just if you could answer that, then follow up. i think one of the more poignant moments in the secure video conference downstairs was when president obama congratulated prime minister maliki and the people of iraq for getting to this momentous moment. and importantly when prime minister maliki congratulated president obama an our troops an our diplomats for all they ve done. so when the president laid out a vision for the future of iraq in february 2009 down in camp lejeune, many of you were there, he said what we are looking for is an iraq that s secure, stable an self-reliant and that s exactly what we got here. there is no question this is a success. specifically, long discussions over the issue of immunity. had that issue been resolved, would the president have preferred to have had trainers, u.s. trainers, u.s. troops remain there as
this is jack kemp s old seat, the 26th. and the medicare issue has bece, you know, a pivotal issue that should be an automatic republican seat, and it now is not automatic. there is a poll showing the democratic is actually ahead. two republican candidates essentially and one democrat. you give me that in any democratic seat and i ll but davis used to be a democratic candidate. so, there s the third-party candidate. the fact is that what has galvanized this race is the medicare issue and the plan to end the medicare [ everyone talking at once ] the real issue anyway. we all talk about it. from the usa today gallup poll this week on gas prices. look at this. 67% say it caused a financial hardship. andrew ross sorkin, this is what i think is the difficulty for republicans. you heard paul ryan say, basically, you know, you re with me or against me on medicare. that s a litmus test issue for republican candidates, but it hurts them if they want to say, hey, we re the party
as gene was just pointing out, just look at the special election in new york. this is jack kemp s old seat, the 26th. and the medicare issue has bece, you know, a pivotal issue that should be an automatic republican seat, and it now is not automatic. there is a poll showing the democratic is actually ahead. two republican candidates essentially and one democrat. you give me that in any democratic seat and i ll but davis used to be a democratic candidate. so, there s the third-party candidate. the fact is that what has galvanized this race is the medicare issue and the plan to end the medicare [ everyone talking at once ] the real issue anyway. we all talk about it. from the usa today gallup poll this week on gas prices. look at this. 67% say it caused a financial hardship. andrew ross sorkin, this is what i think is the difficulty for republicans. you heard paul ryan say, basically, you know, you re with me or against me on medicare. that s a litmus test issue for repub
me or against me on medicare. that s a litmus test issue for republican candidates, but it hurts them if they want to say, hey, we re the party that s going to get you back to work. that s the issue, and it s ultimately going to be about the math. it s going to be about what happens to the oil prices and what happens to employment. and i truly believe that we re going to vote with our wallet when it actually comes down to it. and so, the big question is where are we in, let s say 6 to 12 months from now, when we actually have when the rubber hits the road? that s the issue. it s a spending debate in washington, because that s the big long-term problem. it s a jobs election and that s the president s problem. he s perceived by six out of ten americans as doing a lousy job on the economy. if republicans can get their focus on maybe not an entitlement war, but that, i think they can beat the president. if not but the question is, though, which party, which candidate can develop
address this directly now, put it to bed for good, or is it better to let it linger within republican circles and let it seem like they re beating a dead horse? i think the latter. i think they are confident that they have adequately addressed it by putting out the documentation that they did, which, to be fair, did not satisfy a number of folks who have investigated this. but nonetheless, would seem to definitive proof that the president was born in this country. they re happy to kind of let this linger, and to let republicans to continue to have to answer questions about it and be presented with it as if it was a litmus test issue, because they feel the white house is a loser. it s not going to help a republican presidential candidate make inroads with independent voters against president obama in 2012. ken vogel with politico. ken, thanks so much. appreciate it. thank you. donald trump making headlines for his stance on the birther issue and his standing in recent gop pres