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Issue date: 11/30/07 Section: News

George Stephanopolous. ABC's chief Washington correspondent, came to Goucher to discuss the upcoming presidential election. He was brought here as part of the President's Forum. [Click to enlarge]

Iraq has been one of the hottest issues facing the nation since before the war began in 2003.

But according to George Stephanopoulos, it will cease to be an issue in the upcoming presidential election.

"If the military progress you see in Iraq…continues into the next year and General Petraeus's plan which would bring [it down to] 100,000 troops maybe even a little bit below, around a year from today, if it continues apace you could see a sit where Iraq recedes, continues to recede, as an election issue and the economy comes to the fore," he said.

Since no Democratic candidate has promised immediate or complete withdrawal from Iraq there is not much of a difference between the two parties on the issue. Therefore, according to Stephanopoulos, it will become less important on the campaign trail.

He discussed most of the leading presidential hopefuls. As a former staffer in the Clinton White House, it was to be expected that he spoke the most about the former first lady and her campaign.

"It has been a ruthlessly competent campaign," he said. "The one thing she needs to do is to prove, largely because she is a woman, that she has the strength to be commander in chief really. And that's the one thing she has to communicate over the course of this campaign. And if she does that, she'll win."

He also spoke of former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Senator John McCain and even current New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He admitted he would be surprised if Bloomberg ran. He later refused to pick his favorite for the Republican nomination.

He pointed out that in November of 1991, Bill Clinton placed fifth for the Democratic nomination.

"This is the first wide open presidential race depending on how you count either since 1928 or 1952. There is no sitting vice president, no incumbent president running for the office," he said. "It comes at a time when we know the challenges the country faces - a war on at least two fronts, a global war against Islamic militancy, economic challenges. It is a big election with big stakes. The presidency the next time around is going to be both an incredible challenge and a big opportunity."

Continued...

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