<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[The Dish]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[http://dish.andrewsullivan.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[Andrew Sullivan]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://dish.andrewsullivan.com/author/sullydish/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Victory And Withdrawal]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[
<p>A reader writes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I entirely agree with <a href="http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/11/only-one-republ.html">your post on McCain</a>. He&#8217;s really the only Republican with an actual chance (I&#8217;m sorry, Ron Paul is not going to win), who is not running on the &quot;Be Afraid&#8230;Be Very Afraid&quot; line. Rather, he sees the problem, and rationally considers options to deal with it.</p>
<p>This is really what I&#8217;ve been saying all along to just about everyone.&nbsp; The difference between leadership and failed leadership is the difference between shaping policy in light of a crisis and letting crisis become one&#8217;s policy. It&#8217;s the latter that let great men like Charles De Gualle successfully extract France from the horrible war in Algeria, and to do so in a calm, rational, and successful way. The imperatives in Iraq are seemingly contradictory: victory, and immediate withdrawal. Any hope of achieving both will require nuanced leadership, not another four to eight years of overarching fear and ignorance.</p>
<p>You&#8217;re quite right: McCain v. Obama and everyone wins!&nbsp; Giuliani v. Clinton: I&#8217;m gonna go see what Ross Perot is doing these days.</p>
</blockquote>
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