Obama has edge on key military issue

WASHINGTON, June 11 (UPI) -- Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama has outmaneuvered his Republican counterpart on a key U.S. military issue, an analyst said.

Despite his well-known history as a military veteran and former prisoner of war, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has been outflanked by Obama, D-Ill., on who will best reward Iraq war veterans for their service, CNN reported. The issue is educational benefits for veterans and a bill providing for them that was passed by the Senate in late May. Obama favored the bill and McCain opposed it.

McCain and President George Bush opposed the measure, saying it would provide an incentive for non-commissioned officers to leave the military at a time when it sorely needs them, while Obama has been using McCain's vote to tie him to the unpopular president.

"I think John McCain has been outmaneuvered," Republican strategist Ed Rollins told CNN. "Sometimes in politics, there are intellectual issues and emotional issues."

Rollins, who worked on the presidential campaign of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee early this year, added, "John McCain is going against veterans groups; he is going against a constituency that should be his … But I think he is on the wrong side of this issue."