McCain's future linked to outcome in Iraq

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Sen. John McCain has tied his presidential campaign to a successful outcome for President George W. Bush's latest strategy in Iraq, making his candidacy dependent on events in a violent land.

The early days of McCain's relaunched campaign bid have shown the Arizona senator to be an unabashed supporter of Bush's troop buildup in Iraq that has fueled a Democratic push for a timetable to withdraw U.S. combat forces from the unpopular war.

On campaign stops in South Carolina and New Hampshire, McCain warned supporters of the consequences of failure in Iraq, saying it would leave Iraq open to chaos and genocide and put the United States in danger of attack.

It is a remarkable position for a politician to be bound so tightly to a strategy that he is willing to lose a race for higher office over it.

"I can't worry about it," McCain told reporters in Columbia, South Carolina, when asked about his position this week. "I don't think about it. It's far more important than any political campaign. I'd rather lose a campaign than lose a war."

McCain supporters say his stance on Iraq is one reason he has been unable so far to break out of the pack of Republican candidates in New Hampshire, where McCain crushed George W. Bush with a 2000 victory of 18 percentage points.

Former New Hampshire Gov. Walter Peterson said McCain's campaign is aimed at Republican primary voters, who tend to be more conservative.

He said once McCain spends a lot of time in New Hampshire, which holds the country's first primary, and repeats his message persuasively it should renew his appeal.

"When he does, he'll begin to bring some people back. I think he'll be OK here," Peterson said.

NOT THAT BIG

But for whatever reason, McCain's crowds at events in South Carolina and New Hampshire were not all that big.

Question-and-answer sessions with him were dominated by Iraq. News coverage barely touched on other aspects of his candidacy, such as his support for a flatter tax rate, a campaign to curb government spending and a reduction in U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

While supporting the troop buildup, McCain is going out of his way to denounce the Bush White House's Iraq policies through four years of warfare, blaming Bush himself and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

"I would've done something different for four years. I complained bitterly for four years. I would be doing what they're doing now. But unfortunately, tragically, they've squandered all those years with a terribly mismanaged war," McCain said.

While it may be difficult for voters to see the nuance in his position, McCain is finding an easy foil in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat who last week stirred Republican ire for saying the Iraq war is lost.