Echoes of VietnamPat Buchanan
compares the situation to the Vietnam era politically, and surprisingly I agree with him.
The reason Democrats must worry today is that the anti-war movement taking shape is virulently anti-Bush; it is lodged, by and large, inside their party; it is passionate and intolerant; it has given new life to the Howard Deaniacs who went missing after the Iowa caucuses; and it will turn on any leader who does not voice its convictions.
Consider Hillary's predicament. She is saying she supports the war and the troops, but the war has been mismanaged and America needs new leadership. No risk there.
Hillary's problem is she is three years away from 2008, the anti-war movement increasingly looks on her as a collaborator in "Bush's War," and Democrats like Feingold are going to give anti-war militants the rhetoric and stances they demand. Hillary's most rabid followers will depart if she does not leave Bush's side -- to lead them.Brian Preston has a good post on Iraq as Vietnam
over at Michelle Malkin's.
Meanwhile,
Clarence Page suggests that the Democrats run out in front of the parade and pretend to be leading it.
Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) last week became the first senator to call for a specific pullout deadline, defying the Democratic leadership. He later clarified on NBC's "Meet the Press" that his date, Dec. 31, 2006, for all troops to be withdrawn from Iraq is only a "target," not a "deadline," and can be pushed back if circumstances require it.
With that, Feingold, who also may run for president in 2008, gave voice to his party's increasingly impatient left-progressive wing, which wants leading Democrats to get tougher in pushing for a troop withdrawal. Call them the "Cindy Sheehan" wing, after the protesting mother of a soldier killed in Iraq. Sheehan's camp near Bush's Crawford, Texas, ranch has invigorated the anti-war movement and put new pressure on Democratic moderates.Speaking of Cindy, she's
due back in Crawford. Unfortunately for her, the president is not.
