as long as any war is going on, it can be a very tricky political issue. i can remember lyndon johnson massacre barry goldwater (in large part on war-related fears); then mccarthy, the peace candidate challenged johnson in the NH primary, and scared lbj out of the race. nixon won the general election as a peace candidate.
truman had some problems because of the korean war. (the repubs were for ending it.)
public opinion can turn really fast if a war becomes unpopular. that's why the wma issue is still important.
I agree with what you posted but one thing is very differant between those examples and the example of today.
Internet.