McCain tells voters he’d brief public on Iraq

Republican presidential hopeful says U.S. has ‘a good chance of succeeding’

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updated 2:07 p.m. ET April 18, 2007

MURRELLS INLET, S.C. - Republican presidential candidate John McCain told voters Wednesday that if he becomes commander in chief he’ll brief the public biweekly from the Oval Office on developments in the Iraq war.

“I would tell them exactly what the battlefield scenario is,” McCain told about 450 people packed into a VFW post in this town south of Myrtle Beach.

The Arizona senator emphasized that he wasn’t guaranteeing victory in Iraq.

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“Am I telling you we’re going to succeed? No. But I’m telling you I think we’ve got a good chance of succeeding,” he said.

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McCain decried the idea of a timeline for U.S. withdrawal from the country, saying it would spawn chaos, and committed to a long-term fight on terrorism. “We’re going to win. We will. We will never surrender,” McCain said.

When asked by an audience member whether he’d do a better job than President Bush in communicating regularly with the public, McCain said he would give updates about the war on national television every two weeks, a map of Iraq at the ready.

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