Posted by
Suetonius on Saturday, January 12, 2008 5:58:10 AM
What is this fascination on the part of conservative national media types with the Iraq war "surge?" We are led to believe by some that McCain's victory in New Hampshire (where he won in 2000) is in large part due to his early support for increased troop levels as part of a new counterinsurgency. McCain's standing as the wise, boots-on-the-ground realist is supposed to have placed him far ahead of the other top-tier candidates Romney, Giuliani, and Huckabee. While his foreign policy credentials undoubtedly contributed to McCain's success, there seems to be a breathless willingness for some to latch on to the surge as the wellspring of coming good fortune for the Republican Party in November. The fact is that as the Iraq issue fades, economic issues and talk of recession, stagflation, etc. will come to dominate the upcoming debates. We see this turn in Michigan, and it is unrealistic to assume that McCain's big win in N.H. presages a McCain "surge" all the way to the nomination or happy days for Republicans come election day. Just as the surge has bought time for the Maliki government , so has the surge bought time for McCain and the Republicans. With stocks down, the housing market in a deep funk, poorly realized job growth, and milk and gas closing in at around $4 per gallon, it ain't all about the surge.