Page A18 of today’s Washington Post: “Poll Shows More Optimism on War.”

Although a majority say the United States is not making significant gains toward restoring civil order in Iraq, the public’s views are more positive than at this time last year. About four in 10 say the United States is making progress, an increase of 10 percentage points over last year. Looking ahead to the new year, the public is somewhat more hopeful about the situation in Iraq. Forty-six percent said they are optimistic about the situation in Iraq in 2008, six points higher than in December 2006. The improved public assessment comes as the rate of U.S. casualties and the violence in general in Iraq have declined. The war has also recently been overshadowed by other issues on the presidential campaign trail.

Somewhere John McCain is asking, “Hey, why isn’t anybody calling it ‘the McCain surge’ anymore?