McCain on the War Train

There are two Republican primary candidates campaigning as pro-war candidates: Rudy Giuliani and John McCain. Giuliani has come as far as he has because he has been the candidate of the hard-core pro-war vote, right wing voters who otherwise wouldn't think of supporting the pro-choice, pro-gun control New York politician, but who also despise McCain (for what seem to me, anyway, to be somewhat vague reasons of personality). But as a perception grows that the end of the Iraq adventure might not be as catastrophic as it has long appeared that it would be, Republicans who see themselves as moderates may feel that they can support a foreign-policy hawk after all. Those voters might start to lift McCain's numbers. That in turn could be the beginning of a process that will sink Giuliani (with McCain and Thompson pulling off his voters from two directions). And the sad fact is, if the Americans manage a significant withdrawal from Iraq, an ensuing major catastrophe for the Iraqi people might not sink the American politicians identified as gung-ho back home. Can you spell "vietnamization"? (And note that all of this errant speculation is a function of the Republican primary continuing to be wide, wide open.)