How the Iraq War Will Affect the 2008 Election

In spite of the fact that the Iraq War is extremely unpopular at this time, the election will not be as affected by this issue as it might have six months ago. The reasons? The downswing in the economy, more media focus on the election news, and the somewhat limited success of the surge.
First, people are now more concerned about their jobs and their spending power than on the war. The dollar is at an all time low, and people are more and more concerned about their jobs. In addition, gas prices are through the roof, and there is little extra money to spend on anything more than utilities and groceries. Add to this the fact that millions of people are over-extended on their credit cards, have taken on debts they can't handle, and are only one paycheck away from bankruptcy. Of course, the housing market is also adding to the problems, given that such companies as Countrywide have extended loans that are based on false equity and misplaced confidence in the homeowner's ability to pay.
What's more, we have been able to think less about the war for two other reasons: the media is much more focused on the election news, and the surge seems to be working to some degree. Of course, we've always known that more troops would quell many of the problems, but it took the rise of voices against the war to force the president to try this solution. It isn't the end-all and be-all of answers to the problems in Iraq, because troops are still dying there. However, it has reduced the pressure brought about by terrorist activity there, if the news reports are to be believed.
The fact that the elections are so interesting and hard-fought have taken Iraq war news off the front pages as well, and this, too, has helped make it a less important issue. It's almost like it fulfills the idea of "out of sight, out of mind." When we aren't bombarded with images of soldiers in desert fatigues shooting real bullets and dying in the sand, we tend to forget why we were so incensed by a president who lied to us about men dying for a cause that wasn't ours. Now our limited attention span would rather watch Barak and Hilary duke it out in stupid debates that really have no answers to any questions.
I find this all somewhat sad. Even though the issue of the economy is an important one, there are young men and women dying in a country we invaded, but which was no danger to us. We need to tell our news stations that we want to hear just as much about the war as John McCain. We want to know the truth about conditions there, and we don't want politics as usual to take the fate of our young people out of sight, out of mind.