John McCain said in an interview yesterday that when American troops can return from Iraq is “not too important.” Campaigns Collide Over McCain Remark [NYTimes.com].
This position may not, as the Times reported, be much different from McCain’s explanation of his “100 years” comment, but it is nonetheless revealing. John McCain has morphed from an outspoken maverick to an old man protecting traditional Republican thinking and constituencies —regardless of reality — in the space of a few short years. That’s disappointing and scary, but it is just the start of a long Presidential campaign of negativity of which we are just beginning to see the first glances.