YEAH! LOL...

Oh, as are all of us (on educated guesses).

But, the Republicans have painted themselves into a corner and they know it;

1) They can't sustain the war as is, they are becoming poison to the public as a Party.

2) They can hope and pray it gets better, but, they know it won't; it gets worse DAILY.

So, that leaves 3) Make it the Democrat's war.

They've tried, but, they can't get away from one little fact; the war is now 4 years long. But, FUND the war without any timetable, any consequence, NOW? THEN it is the Dem's war... THEY FUNDED it! (And make no mistake, that WILL be the framing if the Dem's do this).

The Democratic Parties strategists are stupid. You frame it this way:

- "President Bush is holding our troops hostage. If the war is not funded, they will be returned home. They will not be stranded without food, in a desert, as he claims; UNLESS HE STRANDS THEM THERE. And make no mistake, America, that is what he is threatening! He is holding our bravest, our heroes, hostage in this war, and giving America his ultimatum; fund my war or I strand them in the desert! Ladies and gentlemen, we ARE funding the war, as the public has demanded. It the President who is determined to kill our troops, one way, or another."

Two things. (1) The way the blog is currently set up, your very first comment is moderated, and from then on, your posts will appear right away -- automatically approved. I may have to change this later if I start getting comment spam, but just wanted to let you know (for now) the way it'll work.

(2) The way I see it is this: the Republicans in Congress are indeed sweating, but I think they've agreed behind the scenes that THIS round of voting is where they're making "their stand" and "drawing a line in the sand" and all that malarkey. This is why they've presented such a unified front on this round of voting. But I think their leadership pretty much knows that the next round of voting is going to be wide open - with republicans jumping ship in both houses to vote with the Dems. That's when a real chance will exist to actually end the war, and not just make a bunch of noise about it. The question remains, though, will there be enough of them jumping ship to sustain a veto? They need over 60 in the House and at least 17 or 18 in the Senate. Time will tell (by this fall) whether enough Republicans have done polling in their own districts to believe that they can vote with the Democrats or not.

I could be wrong, it could all play out much differently. I fully admit that - I'm just making educated guesses, not prophesying!

-CW

[...and congratulations, you're the first "real" commenter to post here!]

Sorry, I have to disagree to some extent here. No matter what the Democrats do, they are going to be slammed by the press. This has been proven over and over; "Democrats in disarray", "Democratic Senators can't agree", "Democrats demand timetable", etc. These are just some of the frames the MSM have already used.

The public opinion polls show that despite the media attacks and framing the public is behind the Democrats on the withdrawal of our troops by timetable, even if it means cutting off funding. The media attacks are not swaying the public opinion polls unless it is just to turn more people against the GOP and President Bush.

The Democrat's should absolutely let Bush veto the bill, hold a press conference citing that Bush vetoed the will of the people, then send the exact same bill BACK to him to make him veto it a SECOND TIME. Why?

Because even Republican Congressmen are getting antsy over the 2008 elections and how pathetic the opinion polls for Republicans are BECAUSE of Iraq. They can only hold out for so long and the MINUTE the Democrats fund Bush's war, the framing will be "the Democrats funded it, it was THEIR war!"

The ONLY way to continue to make the Iraq war the Republican's is to continue to push timetables in the bill. This is NOT going to leave our troops stranded in the desert with no way home. It isn't. To even suggest that would happen is absurd. If the war is not funded, then our troops will have to be removed, and they will be, by the Pentagon.

Right now, the Republicans are trying to find any way they can to make the Democrats responsible for the debacle that is Iraq. The public isn't fooled and the Republican Congressmen know it; they are sweating bullets. They have now flat said that if the "surge" doesn't work, they too will have to vote to get out of Iraq.

It isn't working. It will not work. It cannot work. History and every General who isn't worried about their pension has said it will not work.

The Democrat's cannot send any bill to Bush that does not contain the will of the people. Period. To do so is political suicide; the public will then trust no one; not Democrat, not Republican.