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Democratic Party Risks Losing Its Base

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Democratic Presidential candidates want the issue off the table as soon as possible. At the recent NBC debate moderated by Tim Russert at Dartmouth, Senators Clinton, Obama, Edwards, and Biden all did whatever they could to sound like they wanted an immediate withdrawal, but Russert called them on it and drove them to clearly say that they will not begin withdrawing troops from Iraq if elected, and all of the leading Democratic Party Presidential candidates even said they might have combat troops in Iraq until 2013!

 

WHY?! These people are professional politicians and they admit that they know the reality is that if Americans leave too abruptly and Iraq collapses, then (if elected President) they’d have to continue the war or worse-order a third invasion under infinitely worse conditions. Senators Kucinich and Dodd were irate at the measured positions, but the party’s leading candidates held relatively firm. They know what’s at stake, what the reality is, and what’s worse is that this proves they have been deliberately misleading their base, their contributors, their volunteers into believing the same lie they marketed in 2004 and 2006, “vote for (insert Democratic candidate name here) and we will end the war in Iraq.” It’s a lie, and everyone knows it.

 

Proof that everyone knows it was revealed just days after the debate when Tim Russert and a panel of liberals on his show, Meet the Press, all reviewed clips of the three leading candidates changing their positions followed by their shock, shaking heads and even light laughter at the idea that these candidates might actually believe they can mislead their supporters through yet another election cycle.

Further proof that the great “New Direction in Iraq” lie has been recognized came a few days later when 48hrs later on The View, Barbara Walters and her liberal-stacked panel had Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D) on as a guest. The welcomed her, the cast joked about having an orgy with the distinguished Speaker, then immediately asked her, ‘Last fall Democrats came to power with the promise of ending the war...what happened?’ It was a watershed moment. Typically The View has been a microcosm of the Democratic Party’s modern base (including even the most “out there” loons and conspiracy theorists). To have that representative group openly, freely, directly confront the Speaker of the House was dramatic. Speaker Pelosi danced and squirmed and when asked about the difference between: the Democratic Presidential candidates’ positions, the Democratic Party promises of 2006, and the complete lack of any substantive withdrawal efforts the Speaker was at a loss.

 

There can be no doubt that when the 2008 election nears, Democratic Congressional candidates will be hard pressed to pimp their bi-annual pickup line, “vote for (insert Democratic candidate name here) and we will end the war in Iraq.” Any Republican candidate with a heartbeat and a plurality of brain cells need only point out that those same Democratic candidates made those same promises two years earlier, and they lied. It’s a campaign killer for a Democrat looking to hold their seat in Congress. To be able to run, Democratic Congressional candidates have to get the issue off the table in the next 12 months or be faced to defend their lies or their ineptitude or both.

 

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Democratic Party Risks Losing Its Base

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