Nets Blame Iraq War Stance, Not Immigration Position, for McCain's Campaign Setbacks

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Tuesday's CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News blamed Republican presidential candidate John McCain's reduced fundraising and low rank in the polls, which led two top advisers to leave the campaign, on McCain's view that U.S. troops must stay in Iraq -- not on how out of step he is with conservatives on the immigration bill he crafted with Ted Kennedy. CBS anchor Katie Couric declared: “No public figure has supported the President's Iraq policy more than Senator John McCain, and he's paid a heavy price for that. His presidential campaign is struggling and today, Jeff Greenfield reports, there was a big shakeup.” Greenfield, at least, paired Couric's spin with the immigration issue: “Money woes are only part of the problem. His Iraq views are at odds with more and more in his own party and McCain's a sponsor of the dead for now immigration reform bill that has incensed many conservatives.”

Over on NBC, in a story about the political fight over whether to withdraw troops from Iraq, David Gregory framed McCain's Tuesday morning Senate floor comments around how his stance on Iraq is what has “undermined” his campaign: “Just back from Iraq, Senator John McCain, whose presidential campaign has been undermined by his support for the war, gave the President a big boost.”

On ABC's World News, George Stephanopoulos refrained from blaming any policy view for the troubles facing the McCain campaign.

While McCain may be more outspoken than other GOP candidates in his persistence about the need to keep U.S. troops in Iraq, every Republican presidential candidate but Ron Paul has stuck with President Bush on Iraq.

A partial transcript of Gregory's July 10 NBC Nightly News story:

DAVID GREGORY: Today the White House tried to shore up support among Republicans, who have argued the U.S. cannot wait until September to move beyond the surge. Just back from Iraq, Senator John McCain, whose presidential campaign has been undermined by his support for the war, gave the President a big boost.

SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN ON THE SENATE FLOOR: From what I saw and heard while there, I believe that our military, in cooperation with the Iraqi security forces, is making progress in a number of areas.

GREGORY: McCain quoted former Secretary of State and advisor to the Bush White House Henry Kissinger, who wrote in a Washington Post opinion piece today that an American withdrawal now would be a quote 'geopolitical calamity, spreading the war to neighboring countries.' Democrats, who will seek a vote on withdrawal this week, argue a pullout is the only way to force political reconciliation in Iraq....