Yesterday on NBC’s Meet the Press, Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) chief strategist David Axelrod noted that during Friday’s presidential debate, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) "never once mentioned the middle class." In response, McCain’s top adviser Steve Schmidt noted that Obama never said "victory" regarding the "wars this country’s fighting." Later, host Tom Brokaw noted that Gen. David P More.. etraeus — whom McCain has called "one of the great military leaders in American history" — also refuses to use the word "victory" regarding Iraq. Schmidt then walked back his original comment slightly, saying the United States is "on the edge of victory." Less..