On MSNBC a few minutes ago, Obama foreign policy adviser Susan Rice just called McCain to task for not recognizing that Ahmadinejad isn't actually the leader of Iran -- a key point that LiberalOasis has long said should be central to reframing the Iran debate.

For too long, we have presumed that we must dumb down the debate in order to win. It will be a seismic shift in our politics if we can win by elevating the debate, introducing "new" information and better informing the electorate.

UPDATE: Huffington Post just put up the video of McCain wrongly characterizing Ahmadinejad's role in Iran during a press conference exchange yesterday with Time's Joe Klein:

KLEIN: Also checked, also checked with the Obama campaign and he never, he's never sai -- mentioned Ahmadinejad directly by name. He did say he would negotiate with the leaders, but as you know - Ayatollah,

MCCAIN: (Laughing) Ahmadinejad is, was the leader.

KLEIN: But if -

MCCAIN: Maybe I'm mistaken.

KLEIN: Maybe you are...