He can’t argue that the surge is the reason voters should choose him over Obama. That’s just one issue and most voters are sophisticated enough to think beyond one victory. And given that Obama has recently turned Iraq into a public relations positive for his campaign and that he has communicated a little more clearly that his Iraq pullout policy is based on events on the ground then it makes him look a bit more practical than McCain on the Iraq War. The only negative for Obama is that he opposed the surge, but that was last year’s news.
McCain has nothing else to draw on. His Republican predecessor is laying in the political gutter on his last breath. Fair or not, many voters will give McCain the cold shoulder based on the failures of the Bush Administration. And Obama is capitalizing on that big time.
Every TV appearance of McCain is based on “but I have military experience …”, “but I was for the surge, Obama was against it”, “but, but, but …”. And you just can’t win a political race on buts. That’s why John McCain seems increasingly like he’s just a grumpy old man trying to keep up. He has nothing but ‘buts’ to run on and not even the ash can is paying him much attention now.
