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Democrats needn't fear losing Cindy Sheehan
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01/12/07 05:30 AM ET
Who can picture the look on the faces of Karl Rove, Dick Cheney and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) when they saw the front page Washington Post story yesterday reporting that the new Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, is invoking Martin Luther King, Jr. to attempt to inspire strength and fend off timidity in her ranks as Democrats prepare to face down the president on the war? (Don't picture Bush's face since he tells us he doesn't read the papers.)
What a difference a week makes. Last Thursday Pelosi got the gavel and the Democrats returned to power after twelve years. There was to be a PR parade to accompany the legislative blitz for their six practical, popular and poll-tested domestic proposals. But Bush, likely with Rove's help, decided this was no time to let the Democrats steal the show so he interrupted with a New Way Forward. Democrats, having heard enough from the angry activists in their base, decided to fight back — they just haven't figured out exactly how. The party is now debating symbols versus substance. Power of the purse or roar of the rhetoric?
Moved by the MoveOn-ers, they are tempted to take on Bush's war and end it. But the majority of Americans don't support a withdrawal. Nor is there consensus for anything but opposing a surge. Democrats can't really lose unless they overreach, and enact some limitation that voters will later perceive as endangering the troops. Note to Democrats: Cindy Sheehan can storm all the press conferences she wants, but do you fear her voting Republican?
What a difference a week makes. Last Thursday Pelosi got the gavel and the Democrats returned to power after twelve years. There was to be a PR parade to accompany the legislative blitz for their six practical, popular and poll-tested domestic proposals. But Bush, likely with Rove's help, decided this was no time to let the Democrats steal the show so he interrupted with a New Way Forward. Democrats, having heard enough from the angry activists in their base, decided to fight back — they just haven't figured out exactly how. The party is now debating symbols versus substance. Power of the purse or roar of the rhetoric?
Moved by the MoveOn-ers, they are tempted to take on Bush's war and end it. But the majority of Americans don't support a withdrawal. Nor is there consensus for anything but opposing a surge. Democrats can't really lose unless they overreach, and enact some limitation that voters will later perceive as endangering the troops. Note to Democrats: Cindy Sheehan can storm all the press conferences she wants, but do you fear her voting Republican?
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