Senator McCain Has 'No Plan B'

(See here) a New York Times piece that reports Senator John McCain is unwilling to even consider a fallback strategy in Iraq if George Dubyah Bush's "stay the course" strategy in Iraq fails.

The piece reports:

“I have no Plan B,” Mr. McCain said in an interview. “If I saw that doomsday scenario evolving, then I would try to come up with one. But I cannot give you a good alternative because if I had a good alternative, maybe we could consider it now.”

Seems to me Senator McCain has a problem dealing with reality. American public opinion is already firmly in favor of withdrawal and what limited support there is for the war is steadily eroding. His position on this issue is not going to get him elected, and even if he managed to be elected for other reasons, he would not have the public support necessary to continue the war.

While I attempt to not be a one issue voter, this one issue tempts me to question whether or not Senator McCain possesses the qualities America needs for one whom we would select to serve as our President.

Now I am going to be truthful. For many reasons I really like Senator McCain, and thus far he is the ONLY Republican candidate for whom I would consider voting. However I am starting to consider registering as a Democrat so as to help pick out the best Democrat in the primaries. If Senator McCain does not have a "Plan B", then he is unrealistic.

Look, I agree with Senator McCain that withdrawal from Iraq is going to leave a great big mess behind in our wake. However public opinion is going to force our withdrawal. Senator McCain better start coming up with a plan for under what circumstances we withdraw and under what circumstances we will re-engage after withdrawal. It is not going to do him any good to point at the results in Iraq after he loses the election and tell the rest of us "See, I told you so!" America is going to withdraw from Iraq. If Senator McCain insists on a position that, if elected President, he will not withdraw, he is not going to be elected President.

In the next election, America is going to vote for a President who has a plan to get our ass out of Iraq. Will our next President have a wise plan? That I can not predict. I can only say with certainty that absent something like another major terrorist attack on American soil, our next President will have a plan to withdraw from Iraq even if it is a foolish one.

Perhaps that is what Senator McCain is banking on, before the next election there will be another major terrorist attack and that will leave him alone as the only hard line candidate?

Hey Osama, how about giving John McCain a hand. You, Osama, orchestrate a major terrorist attack upon American soil and then Senator McCain will be swept into office as the hard line candidate. John will arrange for an involuntary draft to fill the ranks in our armed services, convince the American public that Iran must be invaded to keep them from obtaining nuclear weapons and everyone will be happy. Think about it Osama! You'll have Sunnis and Shiites united against the "Great Satan" and we can witness unlimited bloodshed. Imagine all the gore. How lovely!

However there is still hope that Senator McCain might come around. As the NYTimes piece reports:

He said that if the Bush administration’s plan had not produced visible signs of progress by the time a McCain presidency began, he might be forced — if only by the will of public opinion — to end American involvement in Iraq.

Heh heh, Senator McCain seems to be admitting he might need to bow to public pressure AFTER he was elected President. John seems to forget how things work. If he is going to be forced to deal with "plan B" after he is elected, we the voters want some hint of what the plan might be before we vote for him. No hidden secrets. Come on John, you do have a "plan B" don't you? Hey John, how about cutting the rest of us in on it before your chances for election completely tanks?

If Senator McCain continues to insist he does not have a "plan B", to me this will only serve to prove that his age is catching up with him. Age does matter. This was proven to the American voter during the latter years of the Ronald Reagan administration.