There are signs of panic among Democrats as President Bush’s poll numbers improve, with the prospect of additional improvement when the American presence in Iraq diminishes. Tonight, a rather desperate Alan Colmes criticized the Bush administration for attacking Congressman Murtha and other Democrats when they called for troop withdrawal, even though Bush knew he would be withdrawing troops soon.
Colmes may not be a heavyweight, but one nonetheless would hope for better from him. The administration didn’t criticize Murtha for calling for some drawing down of our troops; it criticized him for demanding prompt withdrawal of all troops and for his overall defeatism. The administration criticized other Democrats who called for a more gradual withdrawal pursuant to a timetable. Again, that’s not what Bush is doing here. He’s withdrawing troops based on his assessment of the facts on the ground.
The Democrats, while demanding that troops be withdrawn, cannot admit that the facts on the ground are sufficiently promising to permit any dimunition of our forces. That’s an inherently difficult position to be in. To make things worse (and this is ironic), Bush’s much maligned steadfastness, coupled with the indisputable fact that Iraqi troops are doing much more than before, should persuade American voters that the present withdrawal is the result of the progress they’ve been yearning for, not of capitulation. Hence the Democrats’ panic.
Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.