Buying Time…

…but not much. Rasmussen’s latest survey suggests that the administration has convinced most Americans that we should wait until General Petraeus reports in September before deciding on any change of course in Iraq: 51% hold that view, compared to 38% who disagree.
That’s good, I guess. The problem is that September is right around the corner. How realistic is it to expect conditions in Iraq to change enough in the next eight or nine weeks to convince Americans, most of whom are now pessimistic, that a corner has been turned? If the Democrats were smart, they would have joined with the administration in identifying September as the key date, rather than trying to undermine the surge from the opening gun. In September, it won’t be hard for them to argue that any improvements are modest and the surge, having been given a fair chance, should be terminated.
Consistent with the fact that the focus is now on Iraq rather than immigration, President Bush’s standing in the Rasmussen poll has risen to 39%, about where it has been, other than the immigration-related dip, for quite a while.
PAUL wonders: Maybe the Democrats were smart. By pushing to move the date up, they forced the Republicans to buy into the notion that September represents a fair chance for the surge to show significant positive results.
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