McCain taking a huge gamble in backing the war

On the Republican side of the presidential campaign, war veteran and Senator John McCain has taken the biggest gamble of the top contenders, hitching himself to George Bush's war. In a meeting today at the Globe, he reminded us how he can talk about the mess and our messy relations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, the Middle East, China and Russia in such detail that you could easily be convinced that on foreign policy, he is the Republican most likely to clean it up, with the least damage to America's place in the world.

McCain was also candid about the Republican politics of fear creating a backlash in the 2008 election, especially with Latino voters. Of course, such an impact for the Republicans is not clear since President Bush received far less of the Latino vote in 2004 than in 2000, yet retained the presidency. He presented himself as a reasoned man on immigration.

But that war. In 2000, he had early success being the Straight Talk Express. Stuck in second place in popularity behind Rudy Giuliani and behind Giuliani and Mitt Romney in money, he said he would rather lose his presidential bid than lose the war. McCain better hope the war improves dramatically. If it doesn't he will lose both.