For McCain A Candidate's Military Pedigree Hasn't Always Mattered

For the third straight day, Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign has raised a ruckus over comments suggesting that his military service may not, in and of itself, qualify the Senator to be commander-in-chief.

On Tuesday, the campaign hosted a conference call with reporters during which chief surrogate Sen. Lindsey Graham said that McCain was "the best-qualified person to be commander-in-chief" since a previous military-political figure: Dwight Eisenhower.

"He has walked in the shoes of those in uniform. He understands their language. He has grown up in a military family," said the South Carolina Republican, "and quite frankly his military service is extraordinary."

Raising the specter of past military service in the context of a presidential campaign can, however, be a sensitive proposition. For starters there are some purists who still hold to the George Marshall school of thought that armed forces and politics should never blend. More pointedly, McCain himself has downplayed the role that military backgrounds play in election seasons. In February 2003, the Arizona Republican said "Absolutely not," when asked whether "military service inherently makes somebody better equipped to be commander-in-chief."

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