Obama and Iraq: A General Election Strategy

[wyldwolf]

His opposition to the Iraq war helped Barack Obama win the Democratic presidential nomination. Will it help him win the presidency?

It could and should, but isn’t necessarily helping him yet. Polls show Americans very strongly opposed to the Iraq war but not sure whether the anti-war Obama or pro-war John McCain will handle the issue better going forward. Conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer even issued a “bring it on” dare to “make the election about Iraq."

Why this seeming paradox? And how can Obama translate opposition to the Iraq war to support for him?

Iraq needs to be addressed as a three-dimensional issue: (1) the war itself and the need to shift emphasis from what Obama is against to what he is for, and not just the calendar for getting out but the alternative strategy for doing so; (2) Iraq as a measure of Obama’s overall foreign policy capability, particularly passing the commander-in-chief test without getting trapped into the “I’ll bomb, too” Democratic wannabe role; and (3) Iraq as a temperature-taker as to whether this is another anti-military Democrat or someone who genuinely respects the institution, its people and its culture.

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http://www.thedemocraticstrategist.org/strategist/2008/07/post_11.php