McCain v. McCain

At one point, McCain promised if elected to hold weekly televised briefings to the nation on Iraq as long as there are U.S. combat troops there, “even if only C-SPAN carries it.”

That may not rank with Dwight D. Eisenhower’s pledge to go to Korea to end that war. But it does underline McCain’s determination to break with what he repeatedly described as “four years of failed strategy” in Iraq by the Bush administration. He believes that the 2007 “surge” tactics long resisted by Bush have put Iraq in position to achieve a modest goal of no longer being “a killing ground for young Americans.” As a decorated war hero, McCain has the credibility to settle for modest goals that a New York mayor, or a Texas governor, might not have.

Jim Hoagland
Republican Role Reversal
The Washington Post

Senator and Republican presidential candidate John McCain reiterated his support for the war in Iraq on Monday when he spoke to a crowd of about 200 at Blackstone’s Café in downtown Beaufort.

“Despite what you may see from other sources, we are winning in Iraq,” he said.

McCain: ‘We are winning in Iraq’
Jeremy Hsieh
The Beaufort Gazette