The next two years
...I don't think Democrats are that smart. Their policy on Iraq is going to tear their party apart and put its candidates in a dilemma whatever they decide. Pelosi and Murtha do not represent a majority in this country and they will be hard pressed to push their agenda when Republicans stand up to them and conservative Democrats oppose their cut and run strategy under the euphemism of "redeployment."For the next two years, political governance and presidential politics seem likely to proceed on two separate tracks, with little relation between them. House and Senate Democratic leaders may want to avoid confrontation on issues that will put their presidential candidates on the defensive. Bush seems less likely to worry about the effect of his decisions on possible Republican nominees.
That leaves the initiative on setting a post-Bush agenda to the presidential candidates of both parties. They start off closely matched. Pollster Scott Rasmussen, whose final Senate numbers were spot on, shows Hillary Clinton trailing John McCain 48 percent to 43 percent and tied 46 percent to 46 percent with Rudolph Giuliani. Democrats may have thumped Republicans last week, but the political future is very much up for grabs.
True, there is absolutely nothing the Democrats can do (especially on Iraq) that will earn them a better reputation than what Republicans have right now. If they were thrilled that voter confidence in Republicans has dropped, I think they are only going to learn the only direction available to *them* is down. We have no good options in Iraq, but certainly some options are much worse than others. The far left will be thrilled if the Democrats orchestrate a cataclysmic US defeat -- but the other 95% of Americans will not be impressed.
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