The McCain Family in Iraq

By Ed Lasky

Could You Picture a Presidential Candidate With Two Sons in Iraq?

I knew one of McCain's sons had served in Iraq recently. The Hill suggests that by fall, two of McCain's sons may be serving there.

Go ahead, lefty bloggers. Call the man a crazed warmonger, as done here, here, here, here and God knows how many other places and times.

Try to tell the American people that he would push for a dangerous policy that he didn't really believe in while his sons are in harm's way. See how that plays with the electorate at large.

Rick Moran adds:

McCain would be the first president since FDR to have children serving in a war zone. It must be a terrible burden as Commander in Chief to give an order that might place your own child in harm's way. But by all reports, McCain's son has not received preferential treatment of any kind and was recently promoted to Lance Corporal.

The Hill article notes that McCain never uses his kids as political props in his campaign - even though it is not widely known that he has a child serving in combat:

“He is playing it right. He is not going for the cheap political lines,” said John Feehery, who worked for former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and is a contributor to The Hill’s PunditsBlog.

McCain has yet to mention his sons’ military credentials on his ongoing biographical tour. McCain spoke at his own alma mater, the Naval Academy, on Wednesday, and then traveled to his old flight school in Pensacola, Fla.

McCain has appeared uncomfortable when asked about Jimmy’s deployment to Iraq. When asked about it last month by Fox commentator Sean Hannity, McCain replied, “We really never talk about our sons. We have two sons in the military but we never talk about it, if that’s all right.”

McCain added, “I am so proud of both of them.”

As indeed he should be. And what of the mother, Cindy McCain? What thoughts can be going through her mind with perhaps two sons serving in a war zone:

McCain mentioned Jimmy in Iowa, when he casually referred to his son’s promotion to lance corporal, and once briefly on his campaign bus talking to a mother whose son died in Iraq. Cindy McCain, the candidate’s wife, cried silently as the mother told her son’s story, according to reports.

For all their bluster about "chickenhawks" and the like, as Ed says above, the left never mentions the McCain family sacrifices in a war that the father insists must be carried through to a successful conclusion.