Iraq War, Dragging Down Republicans, Dogs
Democrats as Well
Bloomberg
By Catherine Dodge and Jay Newton-Small
December 9, 2005
Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Iraq, which is dragging down President George W.
Bush's public standing, is also creating a dilemma for Democrats torn between
riding the wave of opposition to the war and fear of looking soft on national
security.
"The public has historically seen the Democratic Party as weak on security
issues," said Andy Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center in Washington.
"On the other hand, they have pressure from their own constituents. This is an
issue where there is great partisan divide. A majority of their own
constituents is saying we've got to go now."
"They are really cross-pressured," Kohut said.
Representative John Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat and Vietnam War veteran
with close ties to the U.S. military, ignited a debate last month when he
called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. Democratic Chairman Howard Dean
suggested this week that the U.S. is fighting a losing battle under the current
strategy.
Others in the party, including House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of
Maryland, say a quick withdrawal could lead to disaster in Iraq. Democratic
Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut won praise from Bush and an invitation to
breakfast with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld after writing an opinion
article in the Wall Street Journal Nov. 29 that supported the president's
policy.
`Very Sticky'
"This is a very sticky, complicated problem for them with no easy solution,
kind of like the war itself," said Jennifer Duffy, who follows politics for the
Washington-based Cook Political Report. "Starting with the Vietnam era,
Democrats developed a reputation of being weak on defense of not being willing
to stay and fight. They have not recovered from that."
Democrats need to find a unified middle ground that is "considerably more to
the anti-war spectrum," said pollster John Zogby, president of Utica, New
York-based Zogby International.
"The middle has got to be close to the Murtha side because that's where
their constituency is," Zogby said. "Democrats are not going to win support by
being Joe Lieberman on this. Lieberman will get White House dinners, but he
won't persuade Democrats to support the war and support a pro-war
candidate."
Sixty-one percent of Democratic voters favor an immediate withdrawal of
troops from Iraq, compared with 18 percent of Republicans, according to a
Quinnipiac University poll of 1,230 voters surveyed Nov. 28 to Dec. 4.
Job Approval
Bush's job-approval rating rose to 40 percent this month after reaching 35
percent in October, the lowest point of his presidency, according to a CBS
News/New York Times poll released Dec. 7.
The war in Iraq, which began in March 2003, is still the biggest drag on the
president's standing with the U.S. public. Fifty-three percent of those polled
said they disapproved of the way Bush was handling his job, and more than half
of those people said the main reason was the Iraq war, according to the
poll.
Democratic candidates running in regions that Bush carried in 2004 can't
afford for the party to officially back an immediate withdrawal, said
Representative Harold Ford, a Tennessee Democrat. Ford is running for the
Senate next year in a state that Bush carried with 57 percent of the vote in
2004.
"I don't think the party's position can be that we leave," Ford said. "I
can't support it. We leave, we give a road map of how to defeat us."
The Republican View
Democrats are "divided in so many different ways: either they believe we
can't win, or they're for troop withdrawal or against troop withdrawal," said
Ron Bonjean, spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois
Republican. "One thing for sure is that we'll remain the party of national
security and maintain that position."
Ford said Democratic candidates running in Republican- dominated areas must
show they can find a middle ground between Bush's current policy and a rapid
withdrawal of troops. Ford favors establishing benchmarks that could help
determine when the U.S. reduces troop levels, such as how many Iraqi security
forces will be trained by certain dates.
Representative Earl Blumenauer, an Oregon Democrat, voted against sending
troops to Iraq and supports Murtha's position. "Murtha has moved this forward,"
he said. "He will be the person who brought this sad chapter to a
conclusion."
To contact the reporter on this story: Catherine Dodge in
Washington at cdodge@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: December 9, 2005 00:06 EST
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