Last week, as always, my blogging arch-nemesis Whitney Cheshire had some great insights: Bill McCamley appears likely to be the Second Congressional District’s Democratic nominee; McCamley is hustling his tail off; the district has a conservative streak; and incumbent Steve Pearce is going to be able to raise oil and gas money.
What wasn’t mentioned is that we’re in the fourth year of a war that isn’t going anything like planned (quite the understatement, and awfully generous of me to imply there was a plan). Here’s what we have to show for it:
• Thousands of dead, brave American military heroes.
• Tens of thousands more physically, mentally and/or emotionally devastated vets.
• Hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis.
• A faltering Afghan effort that would have been put to bed years ago absent a massive diversion into
• A military stretched so thin that our National Guard has been converted to nearly permanent military status to shore us up.
• Expenditures bounding rapidly towards one Trillion dollars. Yeah, that’s a capital “T.”
All of which might be worth it, were we safer or closer to isolating our real national threat, Al Qaeda. Instead, a new national intelligence estimate notes that Al Qaeda is stronger than ever. A previous estimate even laid the blame for Al Qaeda’s growing strength directly on our invasion of and continued presence in
Now we face an unbelievably tough dilemma: How do we get the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own future without letting them slip into a genocidal civil war or creating a safe haven for Al Qaeda?
One thing’s for sure: The American people, or a vast majority of them, are done trusting the dimwits who put us in this position. This week’s Washington Post-ABC News poll gives L’il Bush a whopping 31-percent approval rating for his handling of
Even more startling, 62 percent of Americans say the Democratic Congress, otherwise not terribly popular either, “should have the final say on when to bring the troops home.” Congressional Democrats have been nearly unanimous in demanding a fixed timetable to start disengaging from
Pearce has Bush’s stubbornness on
Yes, the Second Congressional District of New Mexico has one of the highest military populations in
In the same Post poll, those who had served or had a close friend or relative who served in Iraq – in other words, those most likely to be loyal to the commander-in-chief, and the ones who have seen up close the good and great efforts of our military – overwhelmingly disapprove of the president’s handling of Iraq. Only 38 percent approve. Even if the entire Second Congressional District were military, which it’s not, it wouldn’t be dramatically different from the rest of the country.
Here’s what’s scary for Pearce: He, Domenici and Wilson all support the heart of the president’s plan, an open-ended commitment to staying in
Does Pearce really think Americans are going to continue to watch their children die while the Iraqis staff up, what, three of 103 units in a four-year period? Or are they all the way up to six? Huzzah!
Regardless of whether you thought this war was justified, smart or honestly presented to the American people, it’s getting pretty obvious that the Iraqis need a swift kick in the pants to get moving. The Pearce-led, open-ended Iraqi-coddling policy ain’t it.
Despite all this, the words “
If McCamley (or any Democrat for that matter) has any message discipline, he’ll decline the great trail debate and jump all over Pearce’s stubborn insistence on an open-ended commitment to our occupation of
Stubbornness ain’t as cute as it used to be, either: An incredible 80 percent of Americans say Bush is not willing enough to change policies on
All is takes is 9.5 percent
McCamley’s raising money exceptionally well in a district that, as of right now, is not a top-tier target of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. McCamley’s energy and money, and Pearce’s stubborn loyalty to a president who has bungled every aspect of this war, are going to make this a much closer race than last year’s 19-point Pearce win.
All it takes is a mere 9.5 percent of the electorate, seeing a better-financed, better-known and more energetic Dem campaign than ‘06, to decide that maybe it’s time for a new direction on the most important issue of the day, and Pearce is gone. Has 9.5 percent more of the district reached a breaking point with
I don’t know, but I’ll bet the number isn’t that far off. Ms. Cheshire’s otherwise astute article overlooked that one little issue. Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?
Bundy is the political and legislative director for AFSCME in