McCain: Race hinges on Iraq

The Arizona senator wants U.S. troops to continue their mission.

ROCKY RIVER, Ohio (AP) — John McCain said Monday that to win the White House he must convince a war-weary country that U.S. policy in Iraq is succeeding.

If he can’t, “then I lose. I lose,” the Republican said.

He quickly backed off that remark.

“Let me not put it that stark,” the likely GOP nominee told reporters on his campaign bus.

“Let me just put it this way: Americans will judge my candidacy first and foremost on how they believe I can lead the country both from our economy and for national security. Obviously, Iraq will play a role in their judgment of my ability to handle national security.”

“If I may, I’d like to retract ‘I’ll lose.’ But I don’t think there’s any doubt that how they judge Iraq will have a direct relation to their judgment of me, my support of the surge,” McCain added.

“Clearly, I am tied to it to a large degree.”

The five-year-old Iraq conflict already is emerging as a fault line in the general election, with the Arizona senator calling for the U.S. military to continue its mission while his Democratic opponents urge speedy withdrawal.

While most Republicans still back the war, many independents and Democrats don’t.

That presents a significant challenge for McCain and an opportunity for either Barack Obama or Hillary Rodham Clinton.

McCain acknowledged the war will be “a significant factor in how the American people judge my candidacy.”

The lead Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, McCain has consistently backed the war although he’s long criticized the way it was waged after Saddam Hussein’s fall.

He was an original proponent of President Bush’s troop-increase strategy, having called for more forces on the ground for several years.

Last spring, McCain went all in on the war by embracing it as Bush took heat for boosting troop levels to quell violence.

“We can fail in Iraq,” McCain said Monday in an Associated Press interview.

But, he added: “I see a clear path to success in Iraq.” He defined that as fewer casualties and Iraqi troops taking over security to allow U.S. forces to return home. “All of us want out of Iraq, the question is how do we want out of Iraq,” he added.

McCain has signaled that he plans to make Iraq and national security a major part of his general election campaign. Daily, he accuses both Obama and Clinton as wanting to “wave the white flag of surrender.” Democrats, for their part, are arguing that McCain’s candidacy is simply a continuation of Bush’s “failed” policies. They have seized on a previous McCain remark in which he suggested that U.S. troop presence — at some level — could extend 100 years or more.