Maybe McCain should be the one to throw the long bomb with an appeal to those of us who think we made a commitment to Iraq and have to make good on it. That would really distance him from the Democrats who advocate running away or walking away at a fast clip. It would also distance him from other Republicans, most of whom advocate shuffling in place before eventually sneaking out the side door. He can't do any worse than he's doing now, and it would put the issue on the table for as long as he could stay in the race. Not only that, but it's exactly the position he seems to favor. Looks like a perfect fit to me.
Would that cause me to vote for him? Probably. I'm sick of the neocon thinking that got us into this jam on the premise it would be easy and cheap. I can agree with the Democrats who advocate a quick exit, but only because I think we don't have the guts to do what needs to be done if we stay in Iraq. If we continue with the Bush method, we're looking at ten years of intermittent surges, a succession of alternating success and failure that won't transform or rebuild Iraq. Every candidate except McCain is likely to follow some path along those lines, whether you want to call it withdrawal, redeployment, cutting and running, staying the course, etc.
Give me President McCain and the will to do what we promised, or give me a cut-and-run Democrat, but give me someone who will do something. We're pissing away our future and Iraq's future.
