John McCain: Wrong On Everything

Speaking of "Free Ride" McCain, Josh Marshall lectures Dems to start hitting him on the war-



For the record, there's a few points where I disagree with Josh. First, I disagree that the war is McCain's greatest achilles heel. You would think it is, but voters and logic rarely go together. Exit polls in the GOP primaries showed that for Republicans who are opposed to the war in Iraq (the Chafee wing of the party, god bless 'em), the majority of them voted for... John McCain. So don't count on the voters getting this issue right anytime soon.

McCain's real achilles heel is the economy (and, in general, his devotion to all things Bush). If Democrats really want to hammer McCain, videos like this one are where their focus should be-



Secondly, Josh in his video unconsciously echoes the standard trope that the surge did work to some degree. The 'success' of the surge was just like the 'success' of George Bush's "ownership society"... a house of cards built on bubbles and lies. A big mistake to make in the very week that the complete failure of the surge-- and of the Bush Iraq policy in general-- became indisputably clear.

Says the Daily Kos' georgia10 in her analysis of the devolving situation in Iraq this week, "Measured against the [political] goals established by both the president when he sent more troops into Iraq and by McCain when he vociferously argued for escalation of that conflict, the surge has failed. But even when measured against the post-hoc and truncated 'goal' of only reducing violence -- which is what McCain and others point to when they claim the surge is 'working' -- the surge has failed."

That isn't to say, however, that Democrats shouldn't hammer McCain on the Iraq issue every chance they get. They absolutely should. It's the biggest foreign policy disaster in modern U.S. history, and McCain has proudly wrapped himself around it. And while he does so insisting that his command of the situation is his forte, facts do not bear that out. For instance, he gave a speech on Iraq on Wednesday that, in many parts, were lifted word for word from a speech he gave in 2001. Apparently, the last 7 years are irrelevant to McCain. Don't want to let facts get in the way of ideology. As for his assertions that he was a "vociferous" critic of the Rumsfeld-era policy... another big lie.

So by all means, take on his Iraq lust. But don't lose sight of the fact that it's hardly the only reason to be scared of his presidency.