This brief post-election blurb, which I comment on here, has been updated with a longer commentary on why the GOP lost on Tuesday. It’s McCain’s fault, you see. Of course, the fact that you have to read several paragraphs in before Iraq is even mentioned, and then only in the context of the “Frist-Warner alternative,” is a good sign of severe out-of-touchism. It’s pretty clear that the deteriorating security situation in Iraq had a major impact on the election — Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Montana, Missouri and Rhode Island included. Going back to the fall of 2003, McCain had warned again and again about the erosion of security and had called for a much greater commitment to win the war in terms of troop strength (we never had enough) and counterinsurgency strategy. In November of 2003, McCain argued for more ground troops to give “us the necessary manpower to conduct a focused counterinsurgency campaign across the Sunni Triangle that seals off enemy operating areas, conducts search and destroy missions, and holds territory.” He continued: