On Thursday, both candidates continued to focus on the five-year mark of the Iraq war. Clinton addressed supporters in Indiana.

Sen. Hillary Clinton: “This is the week of the fifth year of the Iraq war. And we’re about to go into the sixth year, and I believe passionately that we should begin to bring our troops home, and I’ve outlined the policies that I would follow as president to do that. We have to do it carefully and responsibly. It is very difficult to withdraw troops. You can’t just wake up in the morning and say, ’Let’s start bringing them home.’ It has to be planned for.”

Obama, meanwhile, was in South Carolina, where he linked the nation’s economic woes to the Iraq war.

Sen. Barack Obama: “We also have to understand that the more than $10 billion we’re spending each month in Iraq is money we could be investing here at home. Just think, just think about what battles we could be fighting instead of fighting this misguided war. Instead of fighting this war, we could be fighting the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 and who are plotting against us in Afghanistan, in Pakistan.”

On the Republican side, Senator John McCain was in London Thursday on his way back from a Middle East tour. McCain said the Iraq war would be a key issue in the upcoming presidential election.

Sen. John McCain: “We are now succeeding in Iraq, and Americans, at least, I believe, are in significant numbers agreeing that the present strategy of the surge is succeeding, and they want us to succeed. And that will be, frankly, a very big issue in this campaign.”