Democrats Fear Backlash at Polls for
Antiwar Remarks
Washington Post
By Jim VandeHei and Shalaigh Murray
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, December 7, 2005; Page A01
Strong antiwar comments in recent days by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean have opened anew a party
rift over Iraq, with some lawmakers warning that the leaders' rhetorical blasts
could harm efforts to win control of Congress next year.
Several Democrats joined President Bush yesterday in rebuking Dean's
declaration to a San Antonio radio station Monday that "the idea that we're
going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong."
The critics said that comment could reinforce popular perceptions that the
party is weak on military matters and divert attention from the president's
growing political problems on the war and other issues. "Dean's take on Iraq
makes even less sense than the scream in Iowa: Both are uninformed and
unhelpful," said Rep. Jim Marshall (D-Ga.), recalling Dean's famous
election-night roar after stumbling in Iowa during his 2004 presidential
bid.
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Rahm Emanuel (Ill.) and
Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (Md.), the second-ranking House Democratic leader, have
told colleagues that Pelosi's recent endorsement of a speedy withdrawal,
combined with her claim that more than half of House Democrats support her
position, could backfire on the party, congressional sources said.
These sources said the two leaders have expressed worry that Pelosi is
playing into Bush's hands by suggesting Democrats are the party of a quick
pullout -- an unpopular position in many of the most competitive House
races.
"What I want Democrats to be discussing is what the president's policies
have led to," Emanuel said. He added that once discussion turns to a formal
timeline for troop withdrawals, "the how and when gets buried" and many voters
take away only an impression that Democrats favor retreat.
Pelosi last week endorsed a plan by Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) to withdraw
all U.S. troops in Iraq within six months, putting her at odds with most other
Democratic leaders and leading foreign policy experts in her party.
Democrats, who have not controlled the White House since 2000 and the House
in more than a decade, have tried over the past year to put aside deep
philosophical differences and rally behind a two-pronged strategy to return to
power: Highlight the growing number of GOP scandals and score Bush's unpopular
war management.
While the party is divided over the specifics of Iraq policy, most
Democratic legislators are slowly coalescing around a political plan, according
to lawmakers and party operatives. This would involve setting a broad time
frame for drawing down U.S. troops, starting with National Guard and reserve
units, internationalizing the reconstruction effort, and blaming Bush for
misleading the country into a war without a victory plan.
The aim is to provide the party enough maneuvering room to allow Democrats
to adjust their position as conditions in Iraq change -- and fix public
attention mostly on Bush's policies rather the details of a Democratic
alternative. A new Time magazine poll found 60 percent of those surveyed
disapproved of Bush's handling of Iraq.
Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) embodies this cautious
approach. He has resisted adopting a concrete Iraq policy and persuaded most
Democratic senators to vote for a recent Senate resolution calling 2006 "a
period of significant transition to full Iraqi sovereignty" and to compel the
administration "to explain to Congress and the American people its strategy for
the successful completion of the mission in Iraq." While Republicans introduced
the resolution, it was prompted by a Democratic plan.
Democratic Reps. Jane Harman and Ellen Tauscher, both of California, plan to
push House Democrats to adopt a similar position during a closed-door meeting
today that is to include debate on the Pelosi position.
Despite Pelosi's claims that she echoes the views of most members in her
caucus, plenty of Democrats are cringing at her new high profile on an Iraq
withdrawal. Not only did she back a position that polls show most Americans do
not support, but she also did this when Bush is trying to move off the
defensive by accusing Democrats of supporting a de facto surrender.
"We have not blown our chance" of winning back the House but "we have
jeopardized it," said a top strategist to House Democrats, who requested
anonymity to speak freely about influential party leaders. "It raises questions
about whether we are capable of seizing political opportunities or whether we
cannot help ourselves and blow it" by playing to the liberal base of the
party.
Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly said that while Pelosi estimates more than
half of House Democrats favor a speedy withdrawal, she will lobby members in
today's meeting against adopting this as a caucus position.
Without naming Pelosi, Vice President Cheney told troops yesterday that
terrorists will prevail "if we lose our nerve and abandon our mission," saying
such precipitous move "would be unwise in the extreme." Cheney, addressing Army
units at Fort Drum, N.Y., said that "any decisions about troop levels will be
driven by the conditions on the ground and the judgment of our commanders, not
by artificial timelines set by politicians in Washington, D.C."
In his comments Monday, Dean likened the president's optimistic assessment
to those offered by the government during the Vietnam War. Bush fired back
yesterday. "There are pessimists . . . and politicians who try to score points.
But our strategy is one that is -- will lead us to victory," Bush said in
response to a question about Dean's comments after a meeting with Lee Jong
Wook, director general of the World Health Organization. "Our troops need to
hear not only are they supported, but that we have got a strategy that will
win."
DNC spokeswoman Karen Finney said Dean's comments were taken out of context.
Dean, she said, meant the war was unwinnable unless the Bush administration
adopts a new strategy. Still, a number of Democrats distanced themselves from
Dean. "I think Howard Dean . . . represents himself when he speaks," Tauscher
said. "He does not represent me."
Democratic candidates said their biggest concern is that voters will
misconstrue comments by party leaders about Bush's handling of the war as
criticism of U.S. troops who are fighting in Iraq. "I absolutely disagree" with
Dean, said Patrick Murphy, a Democrat who is running for the suburban
Philadelphia House seat now occupied by GOP Rep. Michael G. Fitzpatrick.
Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Tex.), who represents a district Bush won easily in
2004, said he disagrees with Pelosi and Dean but does not see that as a
problem. "The national press is playing up the fact that Democrats do not speak
with one voice on Iraq," he said. "We should wear it as a badge of honor
because it shows we are not playing a political line with war and peace."
Washington - A leading Republican senator and prospective presidential
candidate said Sunday that the war in Iraq has destabilized the Middle East and
is looking more like the Vietnam conflict from a generation ago.
I think our involvement there has destabilized the Middle East. And the
longer we stay there, I think the further destabilization will occur."
Hagel said "stay the course" is not a policy. "By any standard, when you
analyze 2 1/2 years in Iraq ... we're not winning," he
said.
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