In 1968 Richard Nixon ran for president arguing that "new leadership will end the war" in Vietnam. A reporter turned that nearly meaningless claim into the laughable proposition that Nixon had a "secret plan" to end the war. Nixon was happy enough to let voters imagine that there was in fact a plan - even if it was just to escalate the war - and that there was a secret - even if that meant "secret" bombings of Cambodia.
John McCain has taken his cues from Nixon. The Senator from Arizona, one of the biggest boosters of the Iraq War (a distraction from capturing Osama bin Laden if ever there were), has been telling voters for months that he has his own plan to capture bin Laden. He'll hunt him down to the very Gates of Hell if need be, says McCain. He even promises to shoot bin Laden with his own hand...or maybe not.
So why hasn't McCain made his plan public, or given it to the Pentagon or even the current President to execute it? Alex Frangos thought it was worth inquiring:
"One thing I will not do is telegraph my punches. Osama bin Laden will be the last to know," he said today while riding on the back of his bus between Florida events. In other words: he’s not telling. Why not share his strategy with the current occupant of the White House? "Because I have my own ideas and it would require implementation of certain policies and procedures that only as the president of the United States can be taken."
Steve Benen wonders whether McCain thinks we're children.
By McCain’s own reasoning, it sounds like he’d rather let bin Laden remain free for another year, until McCain and his "own ideas" can get to work.
'Reasoning' may be the wrong term to describe a foreign policy pronouncement by McCain. He's the guy who talks of keeping American troops in Iraq for 100 years and jokes about bombing Iran.
But on the other hand, we shouldn't dismiss McCain's bin Laden boast out of hand. Because sometimes Republicans really do have a secret plan they're just not telling you about. If McCain does actually have something in mind, he might very well be keeping it secret because it's a bad plan.