Political Perceptions: Is Iraq a Winning McCain Issue? (A Barf but Questions to be Faced)

With Iraq returning to the campaign’s center stage this week, Bloomberg’s Margaret Carlson looks at how Sen. John McCain, while defending a generally unpopular war, at least has the advantage of delivering the kind of message voters would like to believe. In Senate hearings this week, “As he’d done so many times before, McCain said we can win if we just pull up our socks and banish our defeatism…Don’t I wish? Don’t we all? I don’t buy his take on the war but, like half of America, I want to.”

“Compare this with the downer Democrats whining that we’ve blown it, that it all might be in vain; indeed, we’re worse off than before we lost more than 4,000 lives, spent trillions of dollars, and left 35,000 soldiers maimed and brain-damaged for life.” Overall, Carlson writes, “McCain is winning the propaganda battle over the war. When a generic Republican is put up against Clinton or Obama, the generic Republican loses. When the Republican is McCain, many polls show that he’s winning.”

Also on Iraq, the central question this election year is “How much is America willing to spend to try to stabilize Iraq?” writes National Journal’s Ronald Brownstein. The second biggest question is shouldn’t today’s taxpayers fund it if it’s so important?

“Iraq is the first major war that this country has fought by transferring the entire cost to future generations, including the generation fighting the war, through government debt,” Brownstein notes. The exceptions to this are the Mexican-American War in 1846 and the Vietnam War – two wars that “bitterly divided” the country. So, Brownstein concludes, “if Bush and McCain believe they can convince America that keeping many thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq,there is a simple way for them to prove it: Ask the country to pay for it.”

The leftists will make an effort to take on McCain in respect to the WOT generally and the Iraq War specifically.

His approach must be transcendental and based on what is good for US and World citizens. He is a natural for that role.

As a domestic leader he should respect, reward and seek the great American middle who "have some college" or its equivalent and great love for their country. He should portray himself as a member who has spent his life in the service of his country and who wants to uphold and extend traditional values. Like most Americans he keeps his religion separate from his job and unlike most current politicans he does not use his family as political props.

The RATS have identity politics-blacks, gays, feminists--but they lack commonality with the actual, average American. They also have the majority of the "overclass" or those with a degree or two past college or its equivalent. This group should be portrayed as it is--desiring to obliterate traditional values and faith and replace with them with the state.

I hope he can do this. With a failing economy, a long war and a charismatic opponent, Senator McCain has his work cut out for him.

Yes, because contrary to the Leftist Mythology, the American people are not opposed to the Iraq war, they are opposed to how they were told it was being fought. When confronted with a “Win the War” or the Democrats “Run Away NOW” program they have shown the want to win the war. Democrat Congress came in with a 50% approval rating. Spent a year fighting with Bush on Iraq and have reached a historical record low 11% approval rating. Bush has remained rock steady on Iraq and his approval ratings, while low have steady as a rock .

One of the really amazing media manufactured myths is that 2006 was all about Iraq. Now, go read the Democrats “6 for 2006”. Iraq is no where in there. When cornered on Iraq, the Democrats lied. They claimed they did not want to run away, merely wanted to “fight it smarter”. They merely changed their whole tune AFTER they had lied their way into power relying on their tame Moveon.org stooges in the US “News” media to mythologies the 2006 election results.

This Democrat fixation on Iraq seriously hurts them. They are trusted on every other issue in poll after poll over Republicans except National Security. So of course the idiots running the Democrat Party insist on re-fighting the 2002 and 2004 elections by highlighting their complete incompetence in the field of National Security as their signature issue for 2008

I think Iraq is a winning issue provided it doesn’t not become the only issue. The one thing that would be a losing issue is if McCain retreated on the Iraq/War on Terror issue. If he wavers on this then he would lose a key advantage he has over the two liberals who are currently wilting like violets in a blast furnace. McCain is becoming President by default. He may end up with a win of Reaganesque proportions. If the current trends hold. I just don’t see things getting better for the left. McCain does have one key challenge, he needs to find his conservative voice and because he has one problem that could be lethal if it is not addressed and that is very few of the most ardent conservatives who were there to get out the vote for GWB are not yet there for JWM and that could hurt him horribly if either of the Democrats recover. I do recommend John McCain start a Democrats for McCain branch of his campaign with Bumper stickers and such. He does have that going for him.

Pulling out now is without a doubt a losing issue. Both Hillary and Obama have already begun to admit that they will not immediately pull out. Neither party wants to be the ones that leave Iraq to Iran and the terrorists to divide up.

McCain has the advantage as long as he holds his ground the Democrats won't be able to effectively use the war as an issue. They will try but it will cost them more votes than they take from him.

The media will continue to lie for the Democrats that there has been no progress and the terrorists are winning but they cannot convince the American public that we are losers and we can only cut our losses and give up. It is a hard sell to show the militant agitators calling for a cease fire and claiming victory as they go back into hiding.

“I think Iraq is a winning issue provided it doesn’t not become the only issue. The one thing that would be a losing issue is if McCain retreated on the Iraq/War on Terror issue.”

The two biggest issues as I see them for this election are national security and the economy. McCain CANNOT win on the economy, his own statements will destroy him there. That leaves Iraq, if it goes well this year he loses because the nation will not see a need for McBoob presidency. If it goes horribly, he loses because of his support for it.

He’s screwed.

I disagree. He can indeed win on the economy when the prescription of the Democrats is to raise the Capital gains taxes to 28% and repeal the tax cuts in some cases doubling the taxes of working families. The only way McCain loses against the two flame out liberals is by refusing to fight or totally alienating his base and even then he may still squeak to victory if only by the strength of his gravitas pitted against a hate whitey black guy and a fraud queen that wouldn’t know the true if it struck her in the ass. You may not like McCain but the reality is he has been lifted on fair winds as his enemies are nearly mortally wounded and the path to his coronation nearly insured. This can change in an instant but this avalanche does not appear to be stopping. McCain most certainly is not the one I wished to be the nominee but he is and he offers us the opportunity to reclaim the banner of fiscal responsibility something that George W Bush through under the bus and we enthusiastically supported him not once but twice.

“he offers us the opportunity to reclaim the banner of fiscal responsibility”

Oh really?

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