"A Center Called McCain" - Cohen 1/17/08

An interesting, if a little bubbly, column on McCain from NYT columnist Roger Cohen. The column goes a little overboard on the McCain will give the GOP a fighting chance because of his allure to the middle. It would be impossible to disagree that he may appeal to more independents than say Mitt, but I'm not convinced he will be able to mobilize the core votes of the party. His attempts at winning over the evangelical movement has also tarnished this very independent streak that used to win over some middle of the road and/or good governance folks. I should know about this feeling of loss of a stand up governance kine of guy, as I would have probably supported and voted for McCain in 2000 if he had faced Gore (but not Bradley, he was my man).

The core of the column, however, isn't really focused on McCain's independent allure - but on his unwavering and single-mindedness on the Iraq war.

Saddam’s nightmare ended in a misbegotten, mishandled, bloody and costly war. Does Bush’s fraudulent, blunder-ridden rush to war matter more than the prizing of 26 million human beings from a sadistic tyrant who modeled himself on Hitler and Stalin?

That core question has seldom, if ever, been dignified by honest debate through all the verbal Iraq wars fought on U.S. soil. I still believe Iraq’s freedom outweighs its terrible price. So does McCain. In the looming battle between the Baptist minister, the corporate whiz and the war hero — and perhaps Mr. 9/11 — to unite the frayed strands of Republicanism, McCain now has a fighting chance.

I think it is fairly obvious to the honest observer that Hussein was an atrocious leader, who unflinchingly resorted to fascist tactics when he felt the need. I'll be the first to say that Hussein was not a net positive for Iraq and getting rid of him could very possibly yield a better Iraq.

My concern with the war has always been the lack of thought put into planning (did the administration understand the Kurd-Sunni-Shia issue?), the failure to adequately explain the case to the international community, the rationale for going after a "bad leader" when there is no shortage of these options worldwide, and mostly the complete ineptitude of the current administration in executing the war and reconstruction effort.