What Iraq Will Cantwell See?

If you haven't heard, Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) took off last night for Iraq. She is heading there as a part of an "official election observation delegation".

KOMO TV and KIRO 7 have picked up the AP story.

I opined in an earlier post that Cantwell is trying to cast herself as a champion for the environment, energy, and now it looks like democracy! Er, scratch that last one. In my view, Cantwell is getting her face in the news, and cranking out the press releases like Willy Wonka's choclate factory. Much like that analogy, there's a lot of fudge in her self-reporting, or perhaps more appropriately, self-adulation.

Then again, perhaps Cantwell will come back as a champion of the cause for freedom. Afterall, when Diane Tebelius travelled to observe the elections in Afghanistan last fall, she came back with some powerful insights. Unfortunately, I don't think Cantwell is going at this with an open-mind. Which begs the question, when she returns, what Iraq will Cantwell claim to have seen: the utter failure of the Howard Dean Party, or the hard path to victory of President Bush? In the end, perhaps it's just the simple difference between philosophies; between being optimistic in the face of adversity, or the pessimist who is constantly advocating CUT and RUN.

Either way, I can't wait to see how Cantwell spins her experience in Iraq.