Reality sets in
As an AP article from today points out, "Recent polls show Americans remain frustrated with Bush's handling of the war, but don't think Democrats have offered much of an alternative." The article, written by Anne Flaherty, suggests that the Democrats were able to avoid being associated in the public's mind with Bush's war (despite the fact that many Democrats have been cheerleaders for it) as long as they were the minority party. But now that they are in power, it is their war too.
In other words, reality is finally about to set in, as the Democrats now assume majority control of both houses of Congress. The problem is that the Democrats refuse to do the one thing that could end this war--cut off funding for it. Last month, Marc Sandalow of the San Francisco Chronicle reported this lame answer by Nancy Pelosi to the question of whether she would vote to cut off funding for the war:
As Flaherty points out in her article,
In other words, reality is finally about to set in, as the Democrats now assume majority control of both houses of Congress. The problem is that the Democrats refuse to do the one thing that could end this war--cut off funding for it. Last month, Marc Sandalow of the San Francisco Chronicle reported this lame answer by Nancy Pelosi to the question of whether she would vote to cut off funding for the war:
"Absolutely not,'' Pelosi responded without hesitation. "As long as our troops are in harm's way, we will be there to support them."Uh huh. As long as our troops are in harm's way, "we" (meaning the Democrats) will continue to vote to keep them in harm's way. Or something like that. You figure it out.
As Flaherty points out in her article,
Biden and other Democrats agree that Iraq will dominate much of their work next year, but contend they must not be blamed for a war run ultimately by the president. "This is President Bush's war," Biden said.And it is that leadership that is lacking. The reality is that the Democrats continue not to offer any real alternative to the Bush policies in Iraq. They refuse to cut off funding for the war. Now that they have the purse strings in their own hands, the war has stopped being just Bush's war. It is their war, too.
But political experts say the public might not agree.
"When you're in the minority, you don't have to do much more than criticize the status quo that wasn't working," said Norman Ornstein, a scholar with the American Enterprise Institute. "When you're in the majority, people will look to you for leadership."
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