The Voter and the Vote on Iraq

I don't think Pelosi gets what is happening.

"Yesterday was the start of a whole new direction in Iraq," said Nancy Pelosi, Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives.

"I think that the president's policy is going to begin to unravel now," she said, though admitted the budget bill, which she voted against, fell short of Democratic aspirations.

After Congress returns from a week-long break, Pelosi said, Democrats would seek to renew the battle to force Bush to change course in Iraq, targeting several defense spending bills due to come up for debate.

I'd like to know the details of this unraveling. What policy in particular? In fact, I'd say that this bill gives the surge a chance to work and with luck succeed. This isn't an unraveling, but the pause to see if the puck gets into the net. I suppose I just don't get what she means.

Some Dems are understanding the politics of the middle on the topic.

Swing voters are exhibiting a nuanced view of the situation in Iraq — and that isn't good news for antiwar Democrats.

They want the United States to get out, but they don't want a hasty retreat — and they want American involvement there not to have been in vain, according to focus groups and other survey research conducted for the Democrats.

"Swing voters are torn," says a Democratic strategist with close ties to the national party. "They aren't sure immediate withdrawal is a good idea" — and, as President Bush says, they don't want the sacrifices of U.S. troops to go to waste.

Even so, many Americans recognize how complex the situation in Iraq is, and they want their political leaders to make their positions clear, even if those positions are controversial. On the day after the congressional vote to fund the war and not impose timetables for removing U.S. troops, party insiders are very worried about the political effect of it all.

I hope that the complexity of Iraq is being considered. I'm not sure from the poll numbers that this is accurate though.