A PARTY UNWORTHY OF GOVERNING:

Votes on Iraq money will resound in 2004 presidential, congressional elections (DAVID ESPO, October 17, 2003, Associated Press)

The House voted first Friday, and the tally showed 83 Democrats in favor, and 118 opposed. By contrast, Republicans supported Bush's request, 220-6.

In the Senate, 37 Democrats supported the spending request, while 11 opposed. All 50 Republicans who voted sided with Bush.

[M]ore than half the Democrats voting in favor of the money are from districts across the South, where Bush's constant summons to support the war on terrorism may have more resonance than elsewhere.

Others, including Reps. Dennis Moore of Kansas, Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota, and Tim Holden of Pennsylvania, are from districts that Republicans covet.

If you were looking to pick the single lowest point in the history of the Republic you could do no better than the day in 1975 when Congressional Democrats defied their president and cut and ran from South Vietnam, leaving a debilitated ally to the tender mercies of the communist North, despite our promises that we'd help them fend off that mutual enemy.

Thankfully, the GOP controls Congress and the presidency now or else today's Democrats might have duplicated that despicable moment. Note that the votes above are not on the discrete and arguable issue of whether some money should be repaid eventually by someone (who would sign a loan agreement? Paul Bremer?), nor on precise amounts, but on the overall question of whether to continue funding the forces we have in the field at all. Large majorities of Democrats just voted to bring our troops home immediately and leave Iraq -- which, whether you approved of the initial war or not, our country just attacked and destabilized -- in the lurch. Imagine the impact on our allies, the glee of our foes, the devastation of the Iraqi people that would have resulted had they been able to force our withdrawal. This is not the action of a responsible political party.

Posted by Orrin Judd at October 17, 2003 8:31 PM