McCain may get caught up in Bush's war plan
McCain may get caught up in Bush's war plan
WASHINGTON -- President Bush has spent a lot of his political capital pursuing the Iraq war. But now that his account is almost empty, he may be getting ready to spend John McCain's.
Article ToolsPrinter friendly E-mail to a friend Nation RSS feed Available RSS feeds Most e-mailed Reprints & Licensing Share on Facebook Save this article powered by Del.icio.us More:Globe Nation stories Latest national news Globe front page Boston.com Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail Breaking News Alerts Tomorrow's speech by Bush, unveiling his war strategy for the remainder of his presidency, will essentially bequeath the Iraq issue to the '08 presidential candidates.
McCain, the leader in most polls for the Republican presidential nomination, has always been a stalwart defender of the war. He's a frank neoconservative who envisions Iraq as part of a global war on terrorism that is at least as expansive as Bush's.
But because McCain has been willing to criticize Bush over some aspects of the war, he hasn't been linked in the public mind with Bush's failures. Now he might be, since Bush is preparing to call for an increase in troops, which is McCain's favored approach to reversing US fortunes in Iraq. Moreover, the administration is pointing to McCain's support as evidence that an increase in forces has some political currency.
McCain has long argued for more troops, and has suggested that Iraq would be different today if the White House had heeded his call. But once more troops head into the war zone, McCain's credibility will be on the line. A year from now, barring an unexpected decision to forgo the presidential race, McCain will face Republican primary voters. If the situation on the ground hasn't improved, his rivals are certain to hold him at least partially responsible for the flawed strategy.
Aware that his campaign may be at stake, McCain last week laid out precisely what he supports in a speech before the conservative American Enterprise Institute.
"There are two keys to any surge of US troops: to be of value, it must be substantial and it must be sustained," McCain declared.
He set a minimum of 25,000 additional Army soldiers. Numerous reports have pegged Bush's plan at about 20,000 -- close enough that McCain would have a hard time claiming that 5,000 more troops would make the difference.
In his AEI speech, McCain made clear that he plans to carry his support for the war into 2008.
He seems to be banking on the hope that the consistency of his position on Iraq will promote confidence in his leadership, building on what many people respect about McCain: his willingness to stand up for his beliefs.
Ultimately, McCain has said, the voters will not want to withdraw from Iraq in defeat.
That's questionable. Senator Joseph Lieberman, who won re election in Connecticut as an independent after losing the Democratic nomination because he supports the war, told reporters at the AEI event: "I just finished an election campaign. If rumors are correct, [McCain] may be starting one. And he's not taking the easy way out here."
Still, as McCain's supporters are sure to point out, simply having a position on Iraq puts McCain ahead of most of his fellow Republican and Democratic presidential hopefuls.
Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, McCain's best-known GOP rivals, have not been obliged to stake out a position on Iraq. This is generally perceived as an advantage, since changing conditions on the ground could turn any fixed position into a liability. But the brewing dispute over the troop surge, and growing dissatisfaction with the war among Republicans, may force Romney and Giuliani to commit to an Iraq strategy earlier than they'd like.
Indeed, it's no longer clear that all Republican hopefuls will be supporting the war.
Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, who is mulling a presidential run, has spoken out strongly against any troop escalation while calling for a phased withdrawal. Dozens of Republican senators are expected to oppose the troop surge, once Bush formally proposes it tomorrow night.
All the prospective Democratic candidates are against increasing troops. Still, anger among liberals at the prospect of an escalation could put pressure on the Democrats in Congress to withdraw funds for the entire war effort. No Democratic contender wants to cast a vote on such a bitterly divisive proposition.
Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., a Delaware Democrat who has announced his presidential candidacy, has thrown cold water on the notion of cutting off all funds. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, who is already under fire for refusing to renounce her vote authorizing war, doesn't want to further offend activists by refusing to cut war funding.
Tomorrow night, Bush will be under the gun over Iraq; for the next two years, the presidential contenders from both parties will be sure to join him.
Peter S. Canellos is the Globe's Washington bureau chief. National Perspective is his weekly analysis of events in the capital and beyond.
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/01/09/mccain_may_get_caught_up_in_bushs_war_plan/
WASHINGTON -- President Bush has spent a lot of his political capital pursuing the Iraq war. But now that his account is almost empty, he may be getting ready to spend John McCain's.
Article ToolsPrinter friendly E-mail to a friend Nation RSS feed Available RSS feeds Most e-mailed Reprints & Licensing Share on Facebook Save this article powered by Del.icio.us More:Globe Nation stories Latest national news Globe front page Boston.com Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail Breaking News Alerts Tomorrow's speech by Bush, unveiling his war strategy for the remainder of his presidency, will essentially bequeath the Iraq issue to the '08 presidential candidates.
McCain, the leader in most polls for the Republican presidential nomination, has always been a stalwart defender of the war. He's a frank neoconservative who envisions Iraq as part of a global war on terrorism that is at least as expansive as Bush's.
But because McCain has been willing to criticize Bush over some aspects of the war, he hasn't been linked in the public mind with Bush's failures. Now he might be, since Bush is preparing to call for an increase in troops, which is McCain's favored approach to reversing US fortunes in Iraq. Moreover, the administration is pointing to McCain's support as evidence that an increase in forces has some political currency.
McCain has long argued for more troops, and has suggested that Iraq would be different today if the White House had heeded his call. But once more troops head into the war zone, McCain's credibility will be on the line. A year from now, barring an unexpected decision to forgo the presidential race, McCain will face Republican primary voters. If the situation on the ground hasn't improved, his rivals are certain to hold him at least partially responsible for the flawed strategy.
Aware that his campaign may be at stake, McCain last week laid out precisely what he supports in a speech before the conservative American Enterprise Institute.
"There are two keys to any surge of US troops: to be of value, it must be substantial and it must be sustained," McCain declared.
He set a minimum of 25,000 additional Army soldiers. Numerous reports have pegged Bush's plan at about 20,000 -- close enough that McCain would have a hard time claiming that 5,000 more troops would make the difference.
In his AEI speech, McCain made clear that he plans to carry his support for the war into 2008.
He seems to be banking on the hope that the consistency of his position on Iraq will promote confidence in his leadership, building on what many people respect about McCain: his willingness to stand up for his beliefs.
Ultimately, McCain has said, the voters will not want to withdraw from Iraq in defeat.
That's questionable. Senator Joseph Lieberman, who won re election in Connecticut as an independent after losing the Democratic nomination because he supports the war, told reporters at the AEI event: "I just finished an election campaign. If rumors are correct, [McCain] may be starting one. And he's not taking the easy way out here."
Still, as McCain's supporters are sure to point out, simply having a position on Iraq puts McCain ahead of most of his fellow Republican and Democratic presidential hopefuls.
Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, McCain's best-known GOP rivals, have not been obliged to stake out a position on Iraq. This is generally perceived as an advantage, since changing conditions on the ground could turn any fixed position into a liability. But the brewing dispute over the troop surge, and growing dissatisfaction with the war among Republicans, may force Romney and Giuliani to commit to an Iraq strategy earlier than they'd like.
Indeed, it's no longer clear that all Republican hopefuls will be supporting the war.
Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, who is mulling a presidential run, has spoken out strongly against any troop escalation while calling for a phased withdrawal. Dozens of Republican senators are expected to oppose the troop surge, once Bush formally proposes it tomorrow night.
All the prospective Democratic candidates are against increasing troops. Still, anger among liberals at the prospect of an escalation could put pressure on the Democrats in Congress to withdraw funds for the entire war effort. No Democratic contender wants to cast a vote on such a bitterly divisive proposition.
Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., a Delaware Democrat who has announced his presidential candidacy, has thrown cold water on the notion of cutting off all funds. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, who is already under fire for refusing to renounce her vote authorizing war, doesn't want to further offend activists by refusing to cut war funding.
Tomorrow night, Bush will be under the gun over Iraq; for the next two years, the presidential contenders from both parties will be sure to join him.
Peter S. Canellos is the Globe's Washington bureau chief. National Perspective is his weekly analysis of events in the capital and beyond.
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/01/09/mccain_may_get_caught_up_in_bushs_war_plan/
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