Senator Obama is facing increased criticism from rival John McCain over his pledged willingness to hold unconditional talks with the leaders of enemy nations, including Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Obama attempted to play down the “unconditional” notion of meeting with such a leader saying “There’s no reason why we would necessarily meet with Ahmadinejad before we know that he was actually in power. He’s not the most powerful person in Iran.”

While the McCain camp is saying Obama is “backtracking” on his position. In recent weeks the Obama team evolved the Senator’s stance by saying while there would be no “conditions” there would be “preparations” made by his staff before such meetings would take place.

I don’t personally know how much you can count waiting until the election is over as a condition to his “unconditional” stance, as it doesn’t place any onus on the Iranian president or the people, simply a timetable for the Obama team, but it does reflect a slow evolution of the senator’s position. For weeks his campaign seemed to believe this issue would highlight their differences with the Bush administration and speak to his abilities as a “change” candidate. Now it seems they are moving every so slightly away from that thinking.