Perhaps you saw the video that Senator John Edwards put up the night before he formally announced on TV that he was running for President. In it, he labeled the plan to “surge” or “escalate” US troops in Iraq the ‘McCain Doctrine.’ It was clever speechwriting, and it looks like Senator John McCain is starting to feel its sting.
This weekend on Bloomberg TV, apparently McCain is going to show us how curvaceous that Straight Talk has become.
Take it away, Bloomberg News:
Senator John McCain, a longtime advocate of increased U.S. forces in Iraq, said he would support a troop “surge” into Baghdad only if it is “sufficient and sustained.”
McCain said he would judge any surge proposal based on the assessments of people such as retired Army General Jack Keane, who has called for at least 30,000 additional troops. “If it’s not sufficient in the view of” experts such as Keane, “then I cannot support it,” he said in an interview on “Political Capital with Al Hunt” airing this weekend on Bloomberg Television.
So, the word from Senator McCain has changed. His stated position at one time: “I’ll support the policy that will win the Iraq war.” His new position: “I’ll support the policy that will distance me from President Bush and help me win the presidency in 2008.”
Or, to paraphrase Senator Kerry, “I was for the troop surge before I was against it.”
Meanwhile: McCain is going to listen to retired General Keane? What about all of our generals who are still in uniform? What do they have to say? Is McCain going to listen to them?
