The Maverick and war

Glenn Greenwald nails it on the status of the Iraq War as a Presidential campaign issue. And on how dingy the Establishment press is being about it (Conceding John McCain's "toughness" on national security Salon 02/10/08):

Conventional media wisdom is already solidifying that John McCain's greatest political asset is national security. This is a completely bizarre proposition given that there is no politician who has been more mindlessly supportive than McCain of endless war in Iraq, one of America's most unpopular wars in its history. Only in Media World could undying support for an extremely unpopular war be considered a political asset.

Beyond Iraq, McCain is as pure a warmonger as it gets in the American political mainstream. He is supported by the most extreme neoconservative ideologues, such as Bill Kristol, John Bolton and Joe Lieberman, precisely because they perceive, correctly, that he would be the candidate most likely to enable their paramount dreams of endless Middle East war. The virtual certainty that McCain will ensure the endless occupation of Iraq and, worse, will inevitably provoke more American wars, ought to be considered his greatest political liability, not his greatest asset.

Democrats should be eager - not afraid - to have the 2008 election turn on a referendum on whether Americans want to continue paying for the indefinite occupation of Iraq, and more so, whether we will start new Americans wars - i.e., whether they want to have the same neoconservative extremists who got us into Iraq continue to dominate America's foreign policy, as they will under President McCain. McCain's supposed great strong suit is actually his greatest vulnerability, if Democrats are willing to make that case. (my emphasis)

If the Democrats don't make opposition to the Iraq War the center of their fall campaign, they are much more likely to lose. They would be crazy to try to duck or minimize the national security issues in the campaign. Because Greenwald is dead on in this prediction, which is so obvious that is hardly a "prediction" at all: "The personality cult that is going to be created around the Great and Honorable Warrior, John McCain, is going to be unlike anything seen since the transformation of George W. Bush into Napolean on Mission Accomplished Day."

Tags: glenn greenwald, iraq war, mccain