John McCain and Barack Obama tilt toward the center on Iraq plans

WASHINGTON — After launching their candidacies with opposite positions on the Iraq war, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama seem to be edging toward a middle ground between them.

McCain has long denounced timetables for withdrawal, but said for the first time Thursday that he would like to see most U.S. troops out of Iraq by a specific date: 2013.

Obama has emphasized his plan to withdraw all combat brigades within 16 months of taking office, but also has carefully hedged, leaving the option of taking more time -- and leaving more troops -- if events require.

The positioning is noteworthy because McCain and Obama have made Iraq war policy a core element of their campaigns. But McCain has bowed to the political reality that American impatience with the war is growing, and Obama to the fact that a poorly executed exit would risk damage to other vital U.S. interests.

"It's one thing to stake out a relatively uncompromising position early in the presidential process," said Stuart Rothenberg of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report. "But when the idea that you might move into the Oval Office hits you squarely between the eyes, it reminds you that there's a time to be pragmatic about these things."

The maneuvering also reflects the increasingly difficult politics of the Iraq war as the country heads into a general presidential campaign in which the candidates must broaden their appeal for votes. In a debate, the clearest differences between McCain and Obama on Iraq would be their prewar positions: McCain was in favor, Obama opposed. Somewhat less clear, however, would be their approach to the Iraq end game.

For McCain, his speech Thursday in Columbus, Ohio, was not the first time he has defined a position in new terms that mark a shift from the more conservative stances he advanced in the GOP primary battle. In a foreign policy address in March, after he became the presumptive Republican nominee, McCain emphasized the limits of U.S. power and the importance of efforts to seek international cooperation.

But Iraq has been a foundation of McCain's appeal to conservatives, and he has remained a stalwart backer of continued U.S. involvement.

McCain previously has refused to offer anything approaching a schedule for withdrawal, and condemned former rival Mitt Romney earlier in the campaign for proposing what the Arizona senator said was a timetable.