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Seattle, WA – While polls show that the majority of Americans are in favor of a troop withdrawal, John McCain said he will maintain his message on Iraq in a general election campaign even if it means he might lose.

“I see more and more Americans who realize that if we set a date for withdrawal, that it puts all of those hard won successes at risk. And I will stand my ground as I did earlier. And I will stand my ground that we cannot afford to let al Qaeda declare victory,” McCain said during a press conference on his plane Friday.

While the stay-the-course message has resonated with Republican primary voters, a number of whom support the war, some analysts note that McCain’s support for the surge may hurt him in the fall. For his part, the Arizona senator is ready to make his case for Iraq in front of the voters even if it means a defeat in November.

“If American public opinion embraces an immediate withdrawal as both Senator Obama and Senator Clinton have espoused, I will accept their verdict,” he said.

McCain also defended his belief that the U.S. may need to maintain troops in Iraq for 100 years, if necessary, lashing out at critics who are using the comments against him.

“It is a totally false argument and of course they seize on it. ‘Oh McCain said we will stay.’ How long are we going to stay in Japan? Been there since 1945. How long are we going to stay in Germany? Been there since 1945,” McCain said, adding that the American public is usually content with prolonged troop commitments abroad such as Bosnia and Kuwait as long as casualties remain low. “I understand that life isn’t fair and politics isn’t fair and arguments aren’t fair and your words can be misinterpreted. But the key to this as far as I am concerned is Americans getting out of harm’s way and the way they do that is for this surge to continue to succeed.”