DENVER – For the second day in a row, John McCain delivered what was billed as a "major policy speech," but included no new policies, proposals or ideas. After telling us what he would NOT do to address the mortgage crisis ravaging families and communities in Colorado and fix our struggling economy yesterday, McCain delivered a foreign policy speech today that not only offered no plan for a way forward in Iraq, but seemed to repackage the same rhetoric.

With 54 troops from Colorado already having lost their lives in Iraq, Coloradans want to hear a plan for Iraq going forward. But McCain's speech raised more questions than it answered: Does McCain share General Petraeus’ disappointment over the lack of political progress from Iraq’s leaders? Does McCain agree with the need for a pause in the draw-down of U.S. forces? What would McCain do to pressure the Iraqis to make the political progress the surge was supposed to enable, and how long would he keep our troops there in the absence of progress? How does McCain intend to pay for his $3 trillion war at the same time he's making President Bush's budget-busting tax cuts permanent? [icasualties.org]

Instead McCain talked about his commitment to a more collaborative foreign policy that doesn’t alienate our allies. McCain failed to mention, however, that when it mattered most, he stood silent as President Bush’s unilateralist foreign policy tarnished our nation’s reputation in the world and made it more difficult to work with our allies.

"Coloradans want to know John McCain’s plan for bringing our troops home from Iraq, but all he has offered is war without end." said Colorado Democratic Party Chair Pat Waak. "Yesterday we heard nothing new from McCain on the mortgage crisis, and today we’re hearing more of the same on Iraq. It’s clear that on the issues families in Colorado care about most, McCain offers just a third Bush term. That’s why Colorado’s voters will reject John McCain in November and elect a Democratic president to bring our country the change we need."

John McCain On Iraq:
"Maverick" Diplomat or Bush Parrot, You Decide

In today’s USA Today and his speech to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, John McCain claimed to advocate a more collaborative approach to our foreign policy that incorporates our allies and views war as the "ultimate last resort" once diplomacy has been exhausted. But when it mattered most on Iraq, John McCain didn’t advocate for diplomacy or talk about war as a last resort: he echoed President Bush’s misleading rhetoric in the rush to war and has marched in lockstep with the Bush Administration every step of the way since.