In any Presidential campaign, there are gambits, gimmicks and more that are used by each side in the heat of battle.  Most of them go nowhere, but sometimes they catch on.

This week John McCain and the national Republican Party joined in a two pronged attack on Barack Obama over Iraq, specifically, how long it has been since Obama went to Iraq.  

"Why is it that Senator Obama wants to sit down with the President of Iran, but hasn't yet sat down with General Petraeus -- the leader of our troops in Iraq?" McCain asked, as he called on Obama to make a joint visit with him to Iraq.  

"He could see that the Iraqi military is leading the fight in these places with the support of American troops," McCain added.  

Democrats quickly labeled it a stunt.  

"I don't think we want to continue a misguided foreign policy and an endless war in Iraq," said Obama. 

"On the day after the former White House press secretary conceded that the Bush administration used deception and propaganda to take us to war, it seems odd that Senator McCain, who bought the flawed rationale for war so readily, would be lecturing others on their depth of understanding about Iraq," said Obama spokesman Bill Burton.  

It makes for a good jab back at McCain.  But I wonder if this is one of those items that the media will latch onto.  

Questions like, "Why won't you go to Iraq?" could become a pain in the political bee-hind, along with the logical, "Why won't you go to Afghanistan?"

So late on Wednesday, I wasn't too surprised to see that Obama had told the New York Times that he was considering an Iraq trip.  His only visit to Iraq was back in early 2006.

Making light of that date, the Republican National Committee launched a salvo of its own against Obama on the internet, as they set up a clock to show how long it has been since the Illinois Senator has been to Iraq.  

"Barack Obama has only visited Iraq once -- and that was 871 days ago," RNC Chairman Mike Duncan said Wednesday. "Obama has done shockingly little to educate himself firsthand about the war in Iraq.

Like I said, it may just be another day's worth of press releases.   

Or it could develop into a familiar campaign theme, much as Barack Obama's taunt that a McCain victory is nothing but a third term for President Bush.

Let's just say this.  If Obama goes to Iraq anytime soon, it will be a wild scene for the media and the troops.

To quote Bob Schieffer, "Dan, time will tell."

Tick, tock, Iraq.