Voters split over McCain, Obama on Iraq

A fool or a fraud
Aware that national security is one of McCain's strongest features, Democrats and their allies have tried to portray his Iraq stance as a mere continuation of President Bush's policy. They have seized on his comments earlier this year when he speculated that U.S. troops could remain in Iraq for 100 years. Though he was talking about a presence of non-combat troops akin to those in South Korea, the remark has been used against him in television commercials.

Earlier this month, McCain kicked off his general election advertising campaign with an ad that featured his and his family's military service and his years in captivity but cast him as a man with a distaste for war.

"Only a fool or a fraud talks tough or romantically about war," he says in the ad.

McCain supported the resolution in 2002 that allowed Bush to use force in Iraq. He later criticized then-Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld for his management of the war and went on to become one of the Senate's leading advocates of last year's buildup of troops. He has said he could envision troops withdrawing around 2013 but has refused to fix a date.

"We were losing in Iraq; now we're winning," he has said.

The troop expansion, which is about to end, has left Iraq safer and given Iraqi forces greater responsibility for security. But Pentagon and congressional reports issued this week also warned that the gains are delicate and could be reversed.

A double-edged sword
McCain's Iraq advantage could evaporate if violence and chaos resurface and U.S. casualties mount. Conversely, even greater successes in the country could make withdrawing troops more palatable.

Obama has argued that the troop buildup has not helped resolve Iraq's political problems. He wants to remove all combat brigades from Iraq within 16 months of becoming president. But he has said that if al-Qaida builds bases in Iraq, he would keep troops in the country or in the region to carry out "targeted strikes."

"As the American people get to know Obama and McCain better, they will see that the difference is Obama's desire to fundamentally change American policy in Iraq and John McCain wants to continue George Bush's policy," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said.

Democratic pollster Anna Greenberg said the evidence of improvements this year presents a double-edged sword for McCain and Obama.

"Obviously, people don't like the war in Iraq; they want it to be over and they don't like all the money we're spending there," she said. "On the other hand, people also don't want to retreat or lose. ... In 2006, (the public's view of the war) was much more clearly a net positive for Democrats. I think the landscape has changed."

At the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, which has also polled on Iraq and the presidential candidates, associate director Michael Dimock said the public has a perception that McCain "is not completely on board with Bush."

What's more, he said, Obama faces lingering concerns about his experience, about not being tested and about not having foreign policy experience — themes Hillary Rodham Clinton pushed during their prolonged primary contest.

"What you see is that Americans themselves are conflicted about Iraq," he added. "They are very hesitant to say that we need to get out now. They understand the complexity of this situation."

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