He shouldn't HAVE to go to Iraq to think this through. Or wait and see what the voters think to decide what views he's going to hold.

The military holds many press briefings on how things are going in Iraq, Afghanistan, and on other fronts. I'm on a mailing list for these things, and I get one or two a day. They are long, detailed, often with diagrams and maps, and there are questions from the reporters. Damn little of this makes it into the papers, unless there's a quote they can use to crap on Bush or the war.

There are also many informal sources from people stationed over there, both military and non-military. I find a lot of this on the internet. Michael Yon. Milbloggers. People who are living and working over there.

The information on the improvement in Iraq has been out there for almost a year now. Those people who changed their views based on new data early on, like O'Hanlon and others, have been howled down by the Democrats as traitors to the cause.

Of course, someone who gets everything they know about Iraq from the New York Times or the DNC is going to be surprised when they get there, so maybe a trip is in order.

The Democratic Party picked another empty suit this year. Live with it.