McCain & Sons

John McCain doesn’t talk much about his two sons’ military service while campaigning for president, as Roxana Tiron reports in today’s Hill. Bloggers, however, are already debating the political impact of Jimmy and Jack McCain.

Having both sons in Iraq by the end of the year could hinder Iraq war opponents, writes TPM’s Eric Kleefeld:

“For the Democrats, that possibility could make it much more difficult to hit McCain on Iraq policy. And while McCain himself has avoided mentioning it in his speeches, at least for now, you can bet his surrogates will be more than happy to bring it up every time the Dems hit him on the war.”

Jimmy, 19, just returned from Iraq in mid-February and is stationed at Camp Pendleton, while Jack, 21, is scheduled to graduate from the Naval Academy this spring and could join the Marines.

The Weekly Standard’s Michael Goldfarb finds Kleefeld’s comment “creepy”:

“So McCain’s boys are going to Iraq and liberals want to know how this affects their prospects in the general election. As always, I’m overwhelmed by their support and concern for the troops.”

The elder McCain hasn’t been above pointing out his own military service and that of other family members; this week, he’s been on a “biographical tour” and his campaign has cut a Web ad highlighting McCain’s, his father’s and his grandfather’s veteran past.

McCain’s message prompted Democratic Strategist Ed Kilgore to ask if he was running afoul of an American political tradition: “an expectation of modesty about the accomplishments of one’s forebears.”