According to the New York Times, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and his Republicans will block Senate debate on the compromise Iraq resolution unless Democrats allow votes on two Republican alternatives. One, introduced by John McCain and Joe Lieberman, would be in support of the escalation, while another would state opposition to any cutoff of money for added troops.
Clearly, the Republicans want to force Democrats to go on record regarding funds for the war, an issue that currently divides the caucus, and muddy the message. However, I don't see how this is anything but a lose-lose strategy for the Republicans, in the end. If they block the vote, they will be seen as obstructing criticism of Bush's war policy. If it does go forward, the Republicans will have to vote on whether they support the "surge" or not.
Optimally, the Democrats should allow the McCain-Lieberman resolution so they can put the Republicans on record, but disallow the other (afterall, the compromise resolution already admonishes cutting funds for the "surge"), and see if the Republicans really won't break on not allowing a debate on the most important issue of the day.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
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1 comment:
Good analysis, and I agree with your recommendations. I think also that if the Republicans want to corner Democrats on the issue of de-funding the war, they are badly mistaken about the public mood.
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