NY Times article
and finally...
"It's nice that he made it over there today, but this visit won't change the fact that those brave men and women should never have been fighting in Iraq in the first place" - Jay Carson, a spokesman for Howard Dean
"the right thing to do for our country." But, he added: "When Thanksgiving is over, I hope the president will take the time to correct his failed policy in Iraq that has placed our soldiers in a shooting gallery." - Senator John Kerry
daring move and great politics," but added: "I think these kids need more. I'm sure they were buoyed by his coming, but they need more." - David Axelrod, a senior adviser to Senator John Edwards
"The trip came at a time of rising criticism of the president for not attending the funerals of the returning war dead. It also came in the same week that Mr. Bush met with families of 26 soldiers killed in Iraq, and thus appeared to be a concerted effort by the White House to deal with a political problem." - New York Times article
"Those guys can do some pretty smart stuff sometimes," - senior adviser to one of the Democrats
"We're not going to throw stones at the guy for trying to do a nice thing for the troops. When the president goes and spends time with the troops, that's a good thing." - Matt Bennett, the communications director for Gen. Wesley K. Clark
declined to comment - Richard A. Gephardt
"In fairness, visiting with the troops is exactly what a commander in chief should do. That said, we hope that he's also reassuring them that the administration will eventually have a plan to win the peace and bring our troops home soon." - Jano Cabrera, a spokesman for Senator Joseph I. Lieberman
and finally...
"They made their bed with that `Mission Accomplished' trip, and that's going to be around for a long time," he said. "That's not the last ad you will see with that. I will guarantee you that whoever the nominee is will have that image up." - Matt Bennett, the communications director for Gen. Wesley K. Clark