There has been growing coverage - and a YouTube video could prove the killer app - of Barack Obama's controversial comments about small town America. But his questioning of General Petraeus is equally informative.
According to Joe Klein in Time, he handled himself well. He often does. But the point of his questioning seemed to be to set out a new Iraq policy. It now seems to be his position that since the US is winning, and is on the point of achieving most of its goals, it is the right time to start bringing home troops. In this he is not far off. It is probably still a little early, but that certainly is the right basis on which to bring troops home.
The trouble is what this position tells us about Obama. It has been his position up to now that the whole Iraq venture was a mistake and that America's goals could not be achieved, and so the troops ought to be brought home.
In other words, as the facts on the ground change his reasoning changes, but the conclusion remains the same. This is the very definition of prejudice. The only purpose of facts and reasoning is to lead you to a predetermined conclusion.
And how is he going to sell this policy? Speeches which say "bring the troops home because we have won" will not sit well with his previous claims that the troops had to come home because they could not win. But maintaining the old policy in the face of clear evidence that it is outdated also carries risks.
It could be beginning to slip away from him.
