Republicans can see how John McCain’s 100 years comments (remember, he said it repeatedly) can be made into an albatross around his neck. So they’re going for the full court press. Here’s a press release just out from the head of the NRCC, the Republican House campaign committee (one among many over the last couple days) …

Chairman Cole Comments on Issuance of False Democratic Talking Points Despite Being Widely Discredited, Democrats Level False â100 Yearsâ Accusation at Senator John McCain in Desperate Election Year Ploy Washingtonâ Today, Chairman Tom Cole made the following statement in regards to the dissemination of talking points issued by the House Democratic Caucus in advance of Gen. Petraeusâ report before Congress, which included a statement falsely accusing Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) of âpromisingâ 100 years of war in Iraq: âWith a long and protracted primary battle brewing in the presidential contest, Democrats are justifiably worried that a John McCain candidacy could hurt their chances from the top of the ticket on down. Unfortunately for the American people, when the facts donât meet the political goals of some Democratic leaders in the House, they resort to desperate tactics such as undermining the testimony of a widely regarded military General or distorting the words of the Republican presidential nominee. Intentionally disseminating falsehoods as âtalking pointsâ in order to stem the perceived political fallout of positive news coming out of Iraq, just goes show how worried Democrats are about the upcoming elections.â

Note what he says below at .20 seconds. And then again at 1:20 when he says 1000 or 10,000 years is okay.

Here’s why Republicans are scared to death of this. No one wants to be in Iraq 100 years from now, even if McCain stipulates to the fantasy that Iraqis will be happy having us occupy their country forever and that the place will become like Finland. And none of our soldiers will ever get killed there and it won’t cost any money. If that’s the explanation for why we shouldn’t be concerned that he’s happy to stay in Iraq for a century, that just tells people that McCain is living in a fantasy world.

They need to stop people from talking about it at all because their explanation for what he meant is at least as bad as what he really said.