One of St. McCain's remaining advisers must have told him that, while he was carrying around that watch in his ass, Democrats were losing an election for daring to suggest that we withdraw from Viet Nam. Therefore, even though we all know IraqIsNotVietnam®, we must never ever be the ones to be for ending this war, no matter what people say.
This meme snuck into the Democratic Party's own CW and was an easy explanation for the subsequent losses of Carter (the economy), Mondale (the fake economy) and Dukakis (bogeymen) which had nothing to do with that war. So, this same CW, as we know resulted in dumbass Dems voting for the war in 2002. We know that.
We also know that none of that matters, because what's going on over there is wrong, and people with brains and balls should be doing what they need to do to end this. But you have to admit that it's Viet Nam syndrome that's holding some people back.
In the end, though, as I will continue, it's going to hurt the GOP, not the Dems.
Viet Nam syndrome is basically part of a larger Democratic syndrome which surrenders the Man On The Street® to Conservatism. In other words, Americans love war, so ending war will make them hate us. Well, I think people probably like wining wars we have to win, but this idea that we all suck so much is just wrong.
Reverse Viet Nam syndrome is killing the heir apparent to the Presidency, and it has killed the President himself. Mr. 26% and Mr. Less Bux Than Ron Paul are headed for oblivion because their Don Quixote reprise ain't selling, even in the right wing media pervaded country we live in.
The first candidate in the GOP to realize this will probably win their nomination. The first candidate in the Democratic party to realize this will likely be the next president (or at least the most forceful one at it).