Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com
Published - Saturday, July 19, 2008
Iraq war high on mind of Wis. voters
MADISON — The Iraq war is Dan Buttery's top issue in the presidential race.
It's tops for Jim Wrich, too.
Buttery served as an Army captain in Iraq for a year before an injury forced him to retire from the military. He's voting for Republican Sen. John McCain.
``You've got to support the mission, you've got to support your soldiers,'' the 38-year-old Milwaukee man said, citing McCain's experience as a veteran and the way he's handled the war as reasons for his backing.
Wrich worked a year for the Department of Defense, assessing the health of soldiers returning from the war in 2006. His grandson serves in the Army in Iraq and his granddaughter is studying at West Point.
He's voting for Democratic Sen. Barack Obama.
``I just felt it was an unjust war,'' said Wrich, 70, of Madison. ``People see Obama as somebody who's really committed to stopping this war.''
The Iraq war, and the different ways Obama and McCain would address it, is one of the major issues of the presidential race. Both candidates focused on it this past week, Obama is preparing for a major trip to Iraq, Afghanistan and Europe, and McCain has made his military service a central part of his campaign.
Twenty percent of likely Wisconsin voters said in a poll last month that the war was their biggest issue. That was second only to the economy, which was ranked first by 47 percent.
In the same poll by Quinnipiac University, 70 percent of those who said the war was their top issue said they were going to vote for Obama. Only 23 percent said they would vote for McCain.
That runs contrary to a national Associated Press-Yahoo poll taken last month that showed 39 percent said McCain would do a better job of handling Iraq, compared with 33 percent for Obama.
No matter what the polls show now, the war will be one of the biggest issues for Wisconsin voters in November, predicted Joe Heim, political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. And the more people like Wrich who turn against it, the harder it will be for McCain, he said.
``It is very difficult to change a person's mind once they are against the war,'' Heim said. ``Very difficult.''
Obama and McCain both made how they would deal with the war a focus of their campaigns this past week. Obama, reiterating his pledge to end the war in 16 months, said fighting in Iraq has distracted the country from other problems it faces. McCain, who said he knows how to win wars, called Obama's plan tantamount to declaring defeat. He said the current strategy, marked by the surge in U.S. troops, has been a success.
Anti-war sentiment remains high in Wisconsin, posing a challenge for McCain, who emphasizes his military background in recent television ads that aired in the state.
In 2006, voters in 34 Wisconsin communities passed referendums to end the Iraq war. Thousands protested in eight communities across the state in March to mark the anniversary of the war's beginning.
Eighty-nine soldiers from Wisconsin have been killed in Iraq since the war started in 2003. Another six have been killed in Afghanistan.
And early next year, in what would be the single largest deployment of Wisconsin National Guard troops since World War II, 3,200 Guard members are to be activated and sent to Iraq.
Buttery said McCain understands the military and how it operates, especially during wartime. Obama, who did not serve in the military, does not, Buttery said.
It appeared that the more informed Obama became on the war, the more he is changing his opinion on what needs to be done, Buttery said. He faults Obama for not consulting enough with those fighting the war.
``I would struggle (supporting Obama) as a combat veteran not just because of the fact that he never served,'' Buttery said. ``It's the way he's positioning himself regarding this conflict. He's not listening to the current military commanders.''
Wrich said millions of Americans have turned against the war without speaking to military leaders. There's no doubt the public wants the war to end, he said, and that helps Obama.
``He's the only candidate who spoke out against it when it was not the thing to do,'' Wrich said. ``I think his position on the war is very measured. I believe that he will get us out of there.''
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