John McCain used today's guilty verdict in the military trial of Osama bin Laden's former driver to criticize Barack Obama's opposition to military tribunals for detainees.
"This process of bringing terrorists to justice has been too long delayed, but I'm encouraged that it is finally moving forward," McCain said in a statement. "Unlike Sen. Obama who voted against the [Military Commissions Act] and favors giving al Qaeda terrorists direct access to U.S. civilian courts to contest their detention, I recognize that we cannot treat dangerous terrorists captured on the battlefield as we would common criminals."
Obama supported a Supreme Court ruling granting the right of habeus corpus to Guantanamo Bay detainees.
Salim Ahmed Hamdan was found guilty of supporting al Qaeda by driving and guarding bin Laden by a six-member military jury in the first U.S. war crimes trial since the end of World War II. Hamdan was found not guilty of conspiring with bin Laden in terrorist attacks.
Here's McCain full statement:
I welcome today's guilty verdict in the first trial held under the Military Commissions Act (MCA). This process of bringing terrorists to justice has been too long delayed, but I'm encouraged that it is finally moving forward. I supported that legislation, which was a good-faith effort by Congress to meet the Supreme Court's direction to establish a process to bring terrorist detainees to trial. Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a trusted confidante of Osama Bin Laden, was provided a full hearing of the charges against him and was represented by counsel who vigorously defended him. The jury found that the prosecution lawyers had proven, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Hamdan had aided terrorists by supplying weapons to Al Qaeda and Taliban forces in Afghanistan. This process demonstrated that military commissions can effectively bring very dangerous terrorists to justice. The fact that the jury did not find Hamdan guilty of all of the charges brought against him demonstrates that the jury weighed the evidence carefully. Unlike Senator Obama who voted against the MCA and favors giving Al Qaeda terrorists direct access to U.S. civilian courts to contest their detention, I recognize that we cannot treat dangerous terrorists captured on the battlefield as we would common criminals.
A "census form" the Republican National Committee (RNC) is mailing out to supporters across the country reads more like a laundry list of attacks on Democrats.
An accompanying letter from RNC Chairman Mike Duncan explains that the survey is designed to help the party coordinate its legislative agenda and campaigns, but many of the questions seem designed only to hammer Democrats.
The census asks yes-or-no questions on a wide swath of topics in domestic and foreign policy. Here
The Democratic National Committee has fired a new salvo in its ongoing effort to tie John McCain to the oil industry with the launch of ExxonMcCain, a webpage that loosely parodies the Republican candidate
The Club For Growth is planning to spend $400,000 on political ads attacking Democratic Rep. Mark Udall, who is running for the open Senate seat in Colorado. The group plans to run ads for two weeks across the state, criticizing Udall for supporting a number of "wasteful pork projects" in the House.
The Briefing Room has contacted the Udall campaign and will post its response upon hearing back.
John McCain is hoping that Olympics viewers are voters too.
NBC Universal records show the Republican presidential candidate has purchased $6 million in advertising time during the Olympics, which begin Friday, the Washington Post reports. That is $1 million more than Barack Obama plans to spend during the Beijing games.
The national network TV ad buys are unusual because presidential candidates have focused their advertising in swing states in recent election cycles.
John McCain's new ad again criticizes Barack Obama as "the biggest celebrity in the world." But unlike a previous McCain ad that featured a succession of photos of Obama, Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, only the presidential candidates appear in the new spot.
A narrator goes on to question whether Obama is ready to help American families and create U.S. jobs.
Read the script and watch the ad below.
Script For "FAMILY" (TV :30)
ANNCR: Is the biggest celebrity in the world ready to help your family?
The real Obama promises higher taxes, more government spending. So, fewer jobs.
Renewable energy to transform our economy, create jobs and energy independence, that's John McCain.
JOHN MCCAIN: I'm John McCain and I approved this message.
Here's Paris Hilton's response to John McCain, who used an image of her and Britney Spears in an attack ad on Barack Obama's celebrity status. It's heavier on policy than you might think.
More voters than not say that Barack Obama would benefit from picking a female running mate, while the opposite is true for McCain, according to a new poll by the Lifetime Network.
If Obama chooses a woman as the Democratic vice presidential nominee, 29 percent of female voters said they'd be more likely to support him and 15 percent said they'd be less likely. If McCain picks a female running mate, 15 percent of women voters said they'd more likely to back him and 20 percent said they'd be less likely.
Obama gets more support from women voters in general -- 49 percent -- than McCain, who receives 38 percent of female voters' support, the poll found.
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