Stuart Rothenberg thinks the Dems have played the Iraq issue like a Stradivarius

[BurtWorm]

:wtf:

Glad someone is pleased, but the public doesn't seem to be hearing the music.

:nopity:

http://rothenbergpoliticalreport.blogspot.com/2007/06/democratic-leaders-on-capitol-hill-are.html

Democratic Leaders on Capitol Hill Are Still Playing Iraq Just Right

By Stuart Rothenberg

Now that the dust has settled on the Congressional vote on the supplemental appropriations bill and on the ruckus that anti-war opponents of the bill kicked up, it’s time to assess the political implications.

First, Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill played the issue like a Stradivarius. They forced a vote on a deadline for withdrawal from Iraq, putting Republicans on record supporting the status quo and President Bush, but allowed a subsequent vote to “fund the troops.” That gave their own Members from swing districts the opportunity to demonstrate their support for the military.

From a purely political point of view, Democrats had their cake and ate it too. Yes, the war is unpopular, and opposing it is a no-brainer. But the one thing Democrats need to avoid is looking like themselves during the 1970s and 1980s — weak and unwilling to support America’s men and women in uniform. Yes, they’ve spent the past few years speaking the right words on national security and the armed forces, but if they had refused to pass a spending bill, they would have at the very least opened themselves to attack from the GOP.

So, in ignoring the demands of the party’s left, Congressional leaders have kept their party right where they want it — against the war but also against terrorists and for the troops.

...

[SledDriver]

1. Hey great!

I'll bet the dozens of soldiers who got killed in the interim are real excited! :sarcasm:

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

2. Sorry, but I agree completely with Rothenberg

Given the choices they had, they made the right ones. The public polls continually show reluctance for defunding the war as a whole - the support for that simply isn't there. So while their choice to pass the bill without timetables after the veto may not be popular with the anti-war crowd, it was the best of a bad set. While one might argue they should have sent the same bill right back to Bush, people don't realize that the bill would likely not get passed a second time - it wasn't that easy getting the votes to support it when it passed originally.

The only thing I might take issue with is the fact that Democrats haven't done a good enough job in blaming Bush for not accepting a timetable. That's what the public wants, that's the bill we gave him, and he vetoed it. We haven't been putting that fact out there nearly enough.

The article from TPM Cafe talks about "represented Beltway conventional wisdom at its worst," yet fails to point out what better options might have been, which seems to be a fairly popular line of attack for "outside the Beltway" geniuses. If "outside the Beltway" thinkers don't understand how the process works, that's certainly not the fault of Rothenberg or Congressional Democrats.

[BurtWorm]

4. Then why isn't the public more thrilled with the Democratic leadership than they seem to be?

Could it be that they actually understood that the "a vote against the supplemental is a vote against the troops" grandstanding line was total bullshit?

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

8. Re-read my last sentence.

And no - they most clearly do not understand that.

[BurtWorm]

10. It's certainly clear that the Democrats do not seem to be in charge of that issue

or of any issue these days. They started the term looking like they were going to tell Bush and the Republicans how it was going to be, and the public responded warmly to that. Their momentum ran out in about April, it seems, and now they're going where the winds take them. It's a moral imperative that they not allow Bush to set the agenda however he wants to on Iraq, given what a patent failure all of his past agenda-setting on Iraq has been. Yet where have the Democrats been since losing the supplemental vote? They've been letting McCain and Graham and Lieberman shout the loudest.

The Democrats need to lead on Iraq. Actually *lead* on it.

[Cosmocat]

12. Yeah, right concept with the wrong tone ...

The democrats didn't "play" anything, as you noted, they are not "in charge" ...

BUT, they did go as far with it as they can this go around ... They do not have NEAR the senate votes to block a veto, so all it was going to do was turn into a game of volleyball, with the press parroting the "dems hate the troops and are going to leave them stranded in the battlefield" talking point of the right ...

It is a process ... Yes, the "majority" of people want this mess over, but this idiot got reelected in 2004 with people pretty sick of him ... Unfortunately, it takes TIME for the masses to get flowing signficantly in the right direction ...

I think the Ds pushed it as far as they can this go around, as noted, forced him to veto the origional bill ... I think by being "bi-partisan" and letting him play on for another three months, they will then have the ability to say "we let him having his "surge" we stepped aside once and let him have it his way, it hasn't helped one gall darn bit ... Giving them the ability to be tougher and not have it be painted as strongly as simple partisanship ...

At the same time, Rs are going to HAVE to start breaking ranks ... There are too many senators and representatives who are in jeopardy and will have to start breaking ranks come September ...

Again, it was REPUBLICANS who went to Nixon and told him it was over ... Unless they have a super majority, Ds simply do not have the ability to end this ... It will take a good number of Rs to break ranks and force it ...

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

13. Thanks Cosmo.

I appreciate it.

[TwilightGardener]

5. Agree with you.

[dysfunctional press]

3. if their intention was to play a trombone, the analogy fits.

nt

[damntexdem]

6. I think they've played it like a kazoo ...

and not even competent kazooing, either.

[Orsino]

7. Like a Stradivarius that kills thousands per year.

I wanna know when they're gonna decide to stop the music.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

9. He's an idiot

and they're all tone-deaf garage band wannabe wankers playing with out of tune instruments they bought at the local pawn shop.

I have ceased being impressed.

[KharmaTrain]

11. Consider This An Overture...

Most people are just settling in the seats these days or are still out milling in the lobby. We're a year away from when the fruits of the investigations and voting will look even better, if Democrats not only continue to let the Repugnicans form their circular firing squads, but we pick out all the hypocrisies and inconsitencies that will haunt Repugnicans along the campaign trail all next year. It's not as much the Democrats being such skillful musicians, but the Repugnicans being so out of touch with reality now that no one is listening or wants to hear their music anymore.