John McCain Knows How to Win a War

The debate seems pretty blah so far. But one line that is getting on my nerves is Governor Palin saying that Senator McCain knows how to "win a war". Maybe I am just some spoiled Gen Y-er/Millenial but how is this true?

It isn't like he is Eisenhower. I mean he was a legacy into the Naval Academy who by all accounts was a marginal officer. He then served in Vietnam - which we lost - and got shot down (which from a tactical perspective seems like failure to me). Then his dad hooked him up with a desk job on the Hill until he left the Navy and shortly there after became a member of Congress. So where exactly is the nose for victory?

PS - when Sarah Palin says she knows what it is like to sit around the table and try to figure out how to pay for her kids college, what is she talking about. Her son is - bless him - serving in the Army and all the rest are too young for college.