From McCain's July 25th speech at the GI Forum:

We both knew the politically safe choice was to support some form of retreat. All the polls said the "surge" was unpopular. Many pundits, experts and policymakers opposed it and advocated withdrawing our troops and accepting the consequences. I chose to support the new counterinsurgency strategy backed by additional troops -- which I had advocated since 2003, after my first trip to Iraq. Many observers said my position would end my hopes of becoming president. I said I would rather lose a campaign than see America lose a war. My choice was not smart politics. It didn't test well in focus groups. It ignored all the polls. It also didn't matter. The country I love had one final chance to succeed in Iraq. The new strategy was it. So I supported it. Today, the effects of the new strategy are obvious. The surge has succeeded, and we are, at long last, finally winning this war.



Senator Obama made a different choice. He not only opposed the new strategy, but actually tried to prevent us from implementing it. He didn't just advocate defeat, he tried to legislate it. When his efforts failed, he continued to predict the failure of our troops. As our soldiers and Marines prepared to move into Baghdad neighborhoods and Anbari villages, Senator Obama predicted that their efforts would make the sectarian violence in Iraq worse, not better.
First, McCain is right. Second, McCain is taking a risk grounding his campaign on the success of the surge. Americans don't have memories, so in a few months, now that we are pulling our troops out of Iraq, if things get worse again, the Democrats will come out and say, "SEE! We told you so!". McCain doesn't really understand who these people are.


McCain thinks that the praise that came his way every time he crossed over and voted with Democrats, means that Democrats will have some kind of respect for McCain. That's not how Democrats work. They'll use Republicans who are stupid enough to work with them for as long as there is still some juice left to squeeze, but once interests are divided, the Democrats will do everything to destroy a man personally, using the most degenerate and disgusting kinds of rhetoric available to them. That McCain wants the votes of liberals shows me that he doesn't deserve to be president. How can McCain talk about Obama sitting down with the Iranians if McCain is willing to cross over and work with Harry Reid?


Even if Iraq becomes a lovely place over the next few years, Americans will not remember the war fondly. McCain is fighting a losing battle here. Americans are angry and scared, and Obama is the only candidate telling them who to hate, who to blame, and who to look toward for salvation. Obama is the only one trying to inspire people to agree with his world view (as unintelligent and revolting as his might be). People already feel uncomfortable with McCain because they are beginning to associate McCain with war. Americans don't want more war, so they won't vote for McCain.