McCain celebrates his 69th birthday with Pres. Bush on Aug. 29, 2005 as Katrina flooded New Orleans

John McCain's declaration that he hopes the U.S. will be mostly out of Iraq by 2013 is a clear attempt to begin fixing the damage done by his one hundred years gaffe. The problem is that it doesn't really clear up the underlying issue. If he had stated a goal of being completely out of Iraq by 2013 (other than embassy officials and the like), he would have settled it. Instead, the only thing that is really new here is that McCain is setting a timetable for ending our "combat role" in Iraq -- he still fails to say how long our "military presence" (his words) will last.

But the real question McCain's 2013 gambit raises is whether or not he plans to run for re-election.

It's critical to know the answer to this because if he does not plan to run for re-election, how will we be able to hold him accountable? If he only plans a one-term presidency, then he will be an instant lame duck -- and will have no political incentive to keep his promises.

There's plenty of reasons to suspect he does not plan on running for a second term. First, if re-elected, he would turn 77 in the first year of his second term. It's true that his mother is doing wonderful at age 96, but his father passed away at the age of 70. He's a cancer survivor, and claims to be in good health, but hasn't released his medical records yet, and when he does, he only plans to release portions of them.

It's a touchy subject, but it is a very important one, and the American public deserves to know his answer.

John McCain's 2013 Gambit Raises A New Question

McCain celebrates his 69th birthday with Pres. Bush on Aug. 29, 2005 as Katrina flooded New Orleans

John McCain's declaration that he hopes the U.S. will be mostly out of Iraq by 2013 is a clear attempt to begin fixing the damage done by his one hundred years gaffe. The problem is that it doesn't really clear up the underlying issue. If he had stated a goal of being completely out of Iraq by 2013 (other than embassy officials and the like), he would have settled it. Instead, the only thing that is really new here is that McCain is setting a timetable for ending our "combat role" in Iraq -- he still fails to say how long our "military presence" (his words) will last.

But the real question McCain's 2013 gambit raises is whether or not he plans to run for re-election.

It's critical to know the answer to this because if he does not plan to run for re-election, how will we be able to hold him accountable? If he only plans a one-term presidency, then he will be an instant lame duck -- and will have no political incentive to keep his promises.

There's plenty of reasons to suspect he does not plan on running for a second term. First, if re-elected, he would turn 77 in the first year of his second term. It's true that his mother is doing wonderful at age 96, but his father passed away at the age of 70. He's a cancer survivor, and claims to be in good health, but hasn't released his medical records yet, and when he does, he only plans to release portions of them.

It's a touchy subject, but it is a very important one, and the American public deserves to know his answer.