Spin Cycle

In addition to Hillary's contribution, there have been several other developments today on McCain's effort to score points off his greater number of visits to Iraq:

While Obama rejected the idea of a joint visit with McCain, he said today that he was "considering" a trip to Iraq and elsewhere. McCain , meanwhile, is using the issue to raise money.

One political analysis says McCain may have scored a few points short-term by creating the appearance that he boxed Obama in, but Obama could gain long-term if he actually does visit and manages to look less photo-oppish than McCain did (left) during his heavily-armed fact-finding visit to assess the safety of a Baghdad market last year:

"It moves the issue terrain to ground on which the Arizona senator is comfortable (Iraq), and it makes McCain look like the knowledgeable and experienced one...But there are a couple of cons, too. For starters, this debate will spur news organizations to whip up the video of McCain’s widely panned stroll through that Baghdad market....But more important, if Obama DOES go, it could provide him a real commander-in-chief moment."

Finally: As we noted yesterday, this issue got rolling when McCain supporter Lindsay Graham suggested a joint visit, McCain quickly accepted, and an "independent" group called Vets for Freedom -- whose advisory board includes Graham -- simultaneously put up an "independent" web ad attacking Obama for not visiting Iraq.

Sound a little coordinated? Today, there's a report that Graham resigned from the group, because of McCain campaign conflict-of-interest rules that purportedly bar working for "independent" groups. But, internal conflict rules aside, campaigns aren't supposed to coordinate strategy and spending with outside groups.

Here's a video that makes the case that's exactly what happened here:

Via the Jed Report.