More than three dozen Democratic congressional candidates banded together yesterday to promise that, if elected, they will push for legislation calling for an immediate drawdown of troops in Iraq that would leave only a security force in place to guard the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. 

Rejecting their party leaders' assertions that economic troubles have become the top issue on voters' minds, leaders of the coalition of 38 House and four Senate candidates pledged to make immediate withdrawal from Iraq the centerpiece of their campaigns.

The candor of these Democrats contrasts with the positions of Senators Obama and Clinton, both of whom have left some ambiguity in their comments on Iraq, so as not to completely lose the Reagan Democrats who understand we are in the middle of a war. (One which has entered a crucial phase in Iraq as the legitimate government of Iraq confronts the Shia militias.)

Senator McCain's great advantage in November is his clarity about the stakes in Iraq and the war's other fronts.  These 42 Democrats have helped make sure the public doesn't get fooled on the key issue of our time:  The Democrats want to cut, run and hope for the best, even as our enemies among the radical Islamists telegraph their intention to continue and expand the war.