Their presumed opponent, John McCain, has an unambiguous position: he will stay in Iraq indefinitely or for 100 years, whichever comes first.
So the Democratic nominee had better have a clear and precise position to contrast with McCain's.
The Democrats, in this election, must be the antiwar party. As sixty percent of Americans still want us out of Iraq, and nearly seventy percent now say beginning the war was wrong, there is a huge constituency out there waiting to vote for a real antiwar candidate.
Obama opposed the war from the beginning, and would begin removing troops immediately. Here's his position from his campaign website:
Obama will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq. He will remove one to two combat brigades each month, and have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months. Obama will make it clear that we will not build any permanent bases in Iraq. He will keep some troops in Iraq to protect our embassy and diplomats; if al Qaeda attempts to build a base within Iraq, he will keep troops in Iraq or elsewhere in the region to carry out targeted strikes on al Qaeda.
Hillary voted for the authorization to invade Iraq, has not directly admitted her vote was wrong, and says she would convene military leaders to discuss beginning withdrawal within sixty days. From her website:
The most important part of Hillary's plan is the first: to end our military engagement in Iraq's civil war and immediately start bringing our troops home. As president, one of Hillary's first official actions would be to convene the Joint Chiefs of Staff, her Secretary of Defense, and her National Security Council. She would direct them to draw up a clear, viable plan to bring our troops home starting with the first 60 days of her Administration.
It seems to me there's a lot more wiggle room in her plan, a lot more fuzzy language. Perhaps that's what is needed in a commander in chief. Perhaps we also want a commander in chief who can't admit a mistake. That's obviously what we have now.
Maybe Obama makes promises that he can't keep. Maybe that's his inexperience. On the other hand, at least he's direct and firm in what he says.
So tonight I'd really like to hear more from these candidates. I want them to give more substance to these brief statements, and I'd like to see Hillary pressed once again on her war vote and how she looks at it now.
If the Democrats don't have a presidential nominee who can be clear and firm in a debate with each other on their Iraq position, how on earth will they do it against McCain, who couldn't be more clear?
McCain's views may not be in sync with the majority of Americans, but most Republicans who didn't agree with him on the war still voted for him in Florida. They saw the clarity, confidence and strength he exudes on this issue.
Our candidates must show the voters that same clarity and confidence of belief.
