A Call For A Democratic Iraq Policy – From The Left
I’ve been blogging pretty heavily on the failed Democratic attempt to force a pullout from Iraq (a questionable policy, shall we say, coming as it does right in the middle of renewed momentum for our cause) because I see it as symptomatic of a party that is more than happy to sell failure in Iraq as an anti-Bush campaign slogan, but a party that, at the same time, fails over and over again to vote in a way consistent with their rhetoric.
Matthew Yglesias, in a post full of ridiculous partisan sniping, neverthless reaches the same conclusion:
Yesterday’s scummy GOP political stunts over Iraq were, of course, scummy. At the same time, though, Democrats are paying the price for the ostrich-like attitude they’ve taken to the war ever since the 2004 election. There’s been this persistent hope that either the Bush administration would declare victory and go home, or else that the mounting casualties, costs, and unpopularity of the venture would somehow allow a bipartisan truce to prevail letting Democrats wage a campaign that’s all about ethics and prescription drugs.
…Democrats need to be prepared to fight this battle. They need to figure out what they think about Iraq and then they need to put in whatever time is necessary to craft a compelling message out of that policy.
Quite frankly, the GOP has the advantage again on this issue – the public may say they’re unhappy with the war, but at least they know where the Republicans stand. Yesterday and today, both houses of Congress had an opportunity to express themselves on the subject of a pullout from Iraq – and both houses rejected that approach. If the Democrats intend to retake the Congress, they had better figure out a better message than “I don’t think we should pull out, I don’t think we should stay the course, and I don’t support an open-ended committment”.
Voters may be excused for wondering what exactly the Democratic policy in Iraq is; are we committed to victory, or, as our good friend Peter says, is the war a hideous mistake? If the latter, then isn’t Kerry right? Shouldn’t we withdraw immediately? And yet, when confronted with just that option,the Democrats view it as a slur on their patriotism.
And let’s not let Howard Dean off the hook – there is no coordinated national message on Iraq, and it’s by a good margin the most important question facing the country. Just what the hell is he getting paid for, anyway?
If the elections were held today, the Republicans hold…
“Scummy”. Hmmm. Brilliant insight there. Typical, of course as there is no expiation on a definition, historical or otherwise of what sort of action is scummy and which legitimate. The Left has nothing with which to argue; argumentation itself is like garlic to a vampire for them. Not fatal necessarily but the aversion is profound and soundly based. Let them shriek and moan, it is music, oh yes! We are picoseconds away from Dean, Kennedy or some other bigwig Dem actually denouncing our Consitutional order as a corrupt fraud… or did we pass that already? I know Carter denounced the American Revolution as a gratuitous outburst of violence; utterly unnecessary given the example of our friends in the Great White. Gore DID denounce the very concept of colorblindedness in the law, at Ebenezer Baptist Church of all places but that’s not the same thing (arguably WORSE in my book but we digress). While RFK Jr did famously and with famous ignorance denounce the last two Presidential elections as frauds we haven’t yet heard a blanket denunciation of popular sovereignty, have we? Well, it might take 11/06 to prick that sore but that’s the great thing about the electoral calender; the clock is always ticking….
More “Hee Hee Hee!”
Hee hee hee (see also here), again. More mau mauing amongst the opposition, and just when things were going so well for the Dems, not! (Really, check out Bruce Reed, who cannot help lamenting it even as he tries to take those evil Bushinskis down a pe…
A political stunt by the Repubs? I thought this was a stunt by the Dems. Didn’t Kerry introduce the measure in the Senate? The only reason they are complaining is because they could not use the vote to their advantage in any way. Again, the Repubs have forced an up and down vote on Iraq to their advantage. The Dems shot themselves in the foot on this issue and have lost some momentum the last few weeks and it is showing. The whining is getting louder. The word to describe this event is “splendiferous”.
I don’t believe that it necessarily follows that if you think the war was a hideous mistake, that therefore you must also advocate an immediate (or quick) withdrawal. I believe that because we destabilized Iraq, we have obligations to the Iraqis to remain for some period of time, or until certain benchmarks are met. I don’t know what the time or the benchmarks ought to be, but I don’t think that simply because (in my opinion) the war was wrong that we ought to pack up and leave.
My suggestion would be to have a plebiscite in Iraq asking the Iraqis if we should stay or leave, and then follow their wishes.
Democratic ‘contract with America’ does not discuss Iraq.
Newsflash: The dems are admitting no coherent policy.
Forget the ‘cheap stunt’ stuff, after all, who remembers the Seante filibustering judges.
Mort kondracke was an advocate of letting the democrats submit their own resolution, for the purpose of demonstrating that they were incapable of drafting a resolution.
This cheap stunt, actually saved the dems from further embarrassment. They are complaning about not getting to do a resolution, but they couldn’t even get it on their contract.
Nov is going to be a bloodbath.
Tony Snow is doing Chris Wallace on Sunday. Talk about homefield advantage…
I still think that Snow is the centerpiece to the revamped WH. Bolton made a good hire. Bush relied heavily on Condi in the first term and he has missed having someone around him that he likes. I have a feeling that Snow and bush are bonding well. Snow has a sense for pr that may be what the WH needs. Scotty couldn’t do nuance, tony invented it. He gets the nod in charisma as well.
Scotty. I loved the guy, but he was at best the piss boy. Bush had zero confidence in him, and he was three times the liability that Rove ever was. They definitely got rid of the right guy.
What is Rove’s biggest fear? Peaking on Iraq too soon. We are passing that point, but had the press emphasized the impending success, a repeat of 92 lay out there. If Iraq was perceived as a done deal, the public would breathe a sigh of relief, assess the end of the war-and may be less committed to voting. The press, in failing to emphasize the impending success, has played right into the gop’s hands.
Snow on sunday? first glimpse of how the success in Iraq will be presented during the campaign.