Democrat Disarray

The Democrats took another pass at cutting off funding for the Iraq war in the Senate yesterday, and got clobbered on a 70-28 vote. Afterward, the party’s leaders explained that losing lopsided votes is a great strategy:

“We’re not changing our strategy,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said shortly before the vote, adding that the tactic succeeded in making Senate Republicans claim responsibility for the war.
“We are united,” the Nevada Democrat said. “We vote together all the time. And the Republicans vote together all the time, with rare exception. And as a result of that, it’s very clear to the American people who supports President Bush’s war.”

But wait! Twenty Democrats voted against the amendment, compared with 28 who voted for it. So the Dems aren’t exactly “together all the time.” Reid was right about one thing, though: the Republicans “voted together;” they all voted No. (Actually, the AP got the vote tally wrong. The AP story says that 18 Democrats and 51 Republicans voted No. Of course, there aren’t 51 Republicans in the Senate.)
As Paul noted earlier today, public opinion is shifting, if at all, in the direction of supporting our effort in Iraq. The number who support a cut-off of funds is small, but in the Democratic Party, the MoveOn caucus holds the whip hand. Hence these futile, and unpopular, efforts to assure defeat.
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