Presidential contenders expected back for Petraeus
By Roxana Tiron
Posted: 03/29/08 02:03 PM
The Senate’s three presidential contenders probably won’t be back in Washington when Congress returns Monday from its Easter recess, but they are expected to converge the following week when Gen. David Petraeus gives his much-anticipated report on progress in Iraq.
Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) is the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, which will hear testimony from Petraeus on April 8. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) is one of the Democrats on the panel, which will also hear from U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker.
Clinton’s opponent for the Democratic nomination, front-runner Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), will not be at that hearing, but he does sit on the Foreign Relations Committee, which will also hear testimony on Iraq that day from Petraeus and Crocker.
The Armed Services Committee hearing could serve as a platform for McCain and Obama to highlight their differences over Iraq with an eye toward a possible November match-up. Clinton, who voted for war authorization, has promised to bring home the troops soon after she takes office while McCain has vowed to remain in Iraq until the war is won.
Iraq also has been a contentious issue between Clinton and Obama, who has criticized Clinton for authorizing the war. Both Democrats have criticized McCain for his support of the war.
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