Probably a function of distance from Washington, but I'm impressed with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid's maneuvers on Iraq this week. By using Bush's certain veto to create strong party discipline and send a $124 billion military spending bill to Bush laden with a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, the Democrats have put the Republicans in a tight position:
If Republicans vote against the package, they are simultaneously:
a) undermining the troops by refusing to support new spending for all the things the troops need to keep them out of harms way--thereby jeopardizing them with their base;
b) going on record as opposing a sensible timetable for withdrawal from Iraq thereby leaving them vulnerable with swing voters who oppose the war.
By supporting the package (which almost none of the Republicans did), they:
a) "undermine the troops" by bringing them home (something I've never understood but elements of the Republican base are rabid about);
b) undermine the President (see above).
Pelosi no doubt used her liberal San Francisco bona fides with the left wing of the Democratic party, coupled with MoveOn support for this strategy, to bring most of them along to vote for huge war spending, despite the pressure from some peacenik quarters not to do so.
As deplorable as a $124 billion war infusion is, the knowledge of a certain veto by Bush allows most Democrats to participate in this brilliant strategy protected from the possibility of genuinely having helped fund the war.
After the veto is a different story of course, all bets are off and the party factions will probably scatter to their respective corners. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.
No comments:
Post a Comment