Iowa Public Television

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  Program: Iowa Press #3506
  Broadcast Date: Oct. 12, 2007
  

• Collection: Iowa Press: The Presidential Candidates

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Sen. John McCain makes a statement about the Iraq War, and how his stance will affect the voters.

This interview took place on October 12, 2007, at Iowa Public Television.

www.iptv.org/campaign08

Yepsen: Senator, you talk a lot about the war in Iraq in your campaign. It's pretty unpopular. What should the country be doing?

McCain: I hope the country would be doing what they're doing now, David. Thanks to General Petraeus, whose performance before Congress and the American people -- Americans are frustrated and angry and they're saddened by the sacrifice that has been made.

It was mismanaged for nearly four years, and now we have a strategy that is I believe is succeeding -- I know is succeeding. The question is whether the political and other aspects of a successful counterinsurgency will also come to fruition.

So I think what General Petraeus's appearance did was basically American people said he makes a good argument, he and Ambassador Crocker, and maybe we'll give it some more time. I don't think they're satisfied. I think they're still upset and have every reason to be, but I think they are beginning also to recognize the consequences of failure and a withdrawal.

Yepsen: How bad does this issue hurt your candidacy?

McCain: Probably -- probably has hurt me in states like New Hampshire where -- where the people feel very strongly antiwar.

And I don't like to get either maudlin or sentimental, but every once in a while something happens that reminds you of what your priorities are.

And that was when a woman at a town hall meeting in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, stood up and said, "Senator McCain, we wear a bracelet with my son's name on it. He was nineteen. He was killed outside of Baghdad before Christmas last year." And then she said to me, she said, "I want you to do everything that you can to make sure that his death was not in vain."

Tags:

• Iraq war
• John McCain
• campaign 2008
• politics
• Republicans
• military
• New Hampshire

Post Date: June 4, 2008