Tricky Votes Loom For 3 Candidates

"General Petraeus has done an excellent job, given the mission he was told to accomplish. I don't fault him at all. Unfortunately . . . Petraeus had mission impossible," said retired Gen. Robert G. Gard.

To Republicans, the fighting between Iraqi government forces and Shiite militias proves the point that the central government is making progress. "I don't think on our side we're worried. I think what they're reporting is good news," said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), an Armed Services Committee member.

GOP aides are circulating Clinton's comments from Petraeus's last presentation in September, when she told the general that his report would require "the willing suspension of disbelief" to see the success of the additional troops.

Cornyn, a member of the GOP leadership, said that "Obama has gotten by on a campaign based on personality." He said that Clinton, an original supporter of the Iraq war resolution in 2002, has more conflicts on the issue than McCain.

But Democratic leaders made it clear yesterday that their main focus will remain the economy. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) hopes to complete legislation this month that would allow the Federal Housing Administration to guarantee new loans for distressed homeowners if a mortgage lender agrees to write off some of the principal and structure repayments in a manageable way. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) will follow suit.

Those bills will force McCain to resolve an apparent contradiction. In one speech last week, he vowed not to accept any proposals that bailed out speculative lenders and irresponsible home buyers. In a subsequent statement, he promised that he was "committed to considering any and all proposals" to help "deserving homeowners."

A McCain economic adviser said the senator was seriously considering the Dodd and Frank bills, which, he said, "have some merit." But the aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not cleared to speak to the press, said he was concerned that the terms of federally backed mortgages could not be enforced.

To Democrats, that stand would be just fine. "You can't have a period of time where there's growing anxiety over the economy, and the basic philosophy of the Republican Party is 'Look, Mom, no hands,' " Emanuel said.