3/25/2008
Politico.com is reporting that Democrats plan to hammer Senator McCain for his “100 years” comment. He said this during a Town Hall Q&A session when a participant asked the Senator about a recent statement made by President Bush regarding the fact that we might be in Iraq for the next 50 years. McCain was fairly straightforward as usual. He replied, “Make it 100.”
McCain went on to clarify by reminding people “we’ve been in Japan for 60 years. We’ve been in South Korea for 50 years or so. That would be fine with me. As long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed, that’s fine with me. I hope that would be fine with you, if we maintain a presence in a very volatile part of the world where Al Qaeda is training, recruiting and equipping and motivating people every single day.”
So Democrats are going to “hammer” McCain with this? I hope they’re not paying these so-called Democratic “strategists” for this kind of stuff. Really, the foolishness of this line of attack is summed up in three points.
First, this line of attack will only underscore Democrats’ weakness when it comes to foreign policy. Senator McCain was right on the need for a troop surge in Iraq, so why remind voters of that fact?
If you want to know how little foreign policy experience DNC candidates have, just take a look at the CBS video of Senator Clinton, where, during a recent press conference, the Senator discusses a 1996 trip to Bosnia. Senator Clinton remembers the trip as being rather dangerous, with sniper fire and soldiers telling her to duck and run to the vehicle. How exciting!
Well, CBS went back and found the video footage of that trip, showing then-First Lady Clinton walking calmly with daughter Chelsea, accompanied by American troops and attending a reception ceremony with Bosnian children bearing gifts for the First Lady. That is foreign policy experience? In her wildest imaginings, sure!
Secondly, Democrats seem to assume that Americans obsess over the Iraq War as they do. Not true. Americans have concerns, but as conditions have steadily improved in Iraq, the war has become a weaker issue overall, which is why the mainstream media gives so little coverage these days. But just as the bad news of Iraq becomes the good news of Iraq, Democrats want to try and use it against Senator McCain? This makes no sense.
Finally, attacking Senator McCain on the war, where he can turn right around and remind everyone that he criticized the administration for its handling of the war, distracts from other issues where they might have some hope of winning support. The economy, for instance, is an area where Democrats tend to poll better anyway, so why not go there?
This whole “100 years” strategy is going to wind up blowing up in Democrats’ faces. But if Dems want to go after McCain in a way that undermines their chances of winning in November, I guess I shouldn’t complain.
Have at it!
No Comments
