The economy has eclipsed Iraq in recent weeks but in a state like Ohio, which sends a disproportionately large number of its sons and daughters into the military, the war is a huge issue. Many voters care less at this point about who was right on the war at the start, than they do about how to get the U.S. out of the war.
Both Clinton and Obama say they would implement new diplomatic initiatives to help stabilize the Middle East. Both promise a phased troop withdrawal from Iraq that would start almost immediately after taking office. Here's what Obama told an audience of more than a thousand people at a Parma Heights high school about his exit strategy.
Barack Obama: We can get them out at a pace of about 1 to 2 brigades per month. At that rate it will take 16 months. That gives the Iraqi government about two years to get their act together.
Senator Clinton has been just as specific about starting withdrawal of combat troops quickly but she's been less clear about how long it would take before all U.S. troops are out of Iraq if she were elected president. Some of her remarks suggest that might not happen till 2013.
Meanwhile, Republican John McCain says any specific timetable for withdrawal would undermine U.S. military forces and lead to a chaotic end to the war.
Tasha Flournoy, 90.3.