February 2, 2007
AS THE WANNABES FLEE THE RESERVATION:
Senate Democrats Split on Measure Opposing Bush: Compromise Called Weak; Report Raises Estimate of Troops Needed for 'Surge' (Jonathan Weisman and Shailagh Murray, 2/02/07, Washington Post)
Senate Democratic leaders who decided to back a Republican resolution against President Bush's Iraq war plan in hopes of winning broad bipartisan support ran into stiff resistance yesterday from an unexpected quarter -- fellow Democrats. [...]Democratic defections would probably not prevent the legislation from passing the Senate, provided that the measure gets to a final vote over a threatened filibuster by Republicans. But defections would deprive Democratic leaders of a strong united vote against Bush's decision to boost troop levels in Iraq by 21,500.
Two Democratic senators, Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.) and Russell Feingold (Wis.), came out forcefully against the compromise, saying the newly worded resolution goes too far toward GOP positions. Dodd called it "essentially an endorsement of the status quo" in Iraq, while Feingold denounced it as "a deal with the devil."
"This is the United States Senate. This is not some city council somewhere," Dodd said. "It seems to me sending something down that engages the president, that forces the administration to pay attention is something we ought to be considering."
You knew delusional presidential aspirations and Democratic primary politics would derail their slim majority, you just didn't expect it during the first 100 hours. Posted by Orrin Judd at February 2, 2007 1:04 PM
"It seems to me sending something down that engages the president, that forces the administration to pay attention is something we ought to be considering."
It seems to me sending something that gives hope and encouragement to the enemy is something we also ought to be considering.
Posted by: Gideon at February 2, 2007 1:54 PMYou gotta wonder if Lieberman asks himself "what am I still doing with these clowns' on a daily basis.
Posted by: AWW at February 2, 2007 8:11 PMThe Senate has had a bad week (from just about any perspective). First, it held up the minimum wage bill. Then it waffled and pretzled into incoherence over all the Iraq resolutions. Then Joe Biden imploded on Day One of his campaign. Hillary topped it off by turning all Marxist regarding oil profits.
And, though he is not a Senator now, John Edwards hired his blogger supreme, who has taken a very public, strident position against the Duke lacrosse team members under indictment in NC.
The highlight of the previous week was John Kerry's half-hour spasm of self-pity, coupled with the LA Times body-slamming Harry Reid for more real estate hi-jinks.
Next to these clowns, Charlie Rangel is starting to look pretty good.
Posted by: ratbert at February 4, 2007 2:12 AM