Hi Dave!

I wish I had seen this post earlier.

>>Unfortunately, as Chuck Hagel as said on the Senate floor, ""stay the course" is a focus group buzzword. And in this case it's working extremely well.
>
>What's "working extremely well" for the GOP is the spectacle of Democrats falling all over themselves to find the most politically balanced way of saying, "We can't win so bring the troops home now regardless of the outcome." Yet, there they are, straining to loudly proclaim failure in the midst of several weeks of astounding success by the troops in cutting off the heads of the insurgency's leadership structure and following Zark's thumbdrive contents to roll up much of the underling structure as well.

Precisely. I'm no GOP fan as a devout libertarian but it sickens me to watch the Dems trot out talking points and press releases that undercut the nation for, I suppose, purely political purposes. And I don't think I'm alone in that viewpoint.

>Let's not forget the complete absurdity to most Americans of hearing one Democrat after another this week saying "This is not cut and run" when everyone knows full well that it is exactly that.

Anything related to the withdrawal of troops without a clear mission, by definition, is cut and run.

>Anyone with any sense can see that there is a constitutionally elected government operating in Iraq despite the Democrats' attempts to say that the whole thing is a failure and that civil war is inevitable. Most Americans can see it for what it is and not for how the liberals want to paint it.
>
>A party whose only hope of winning depends on America losing is in deep trouble in November, regardless of how much the extreme left wants to wish it away.

Honestly, this is hard to call. I predicted the results of the 2002 midterms perfectly. I was only 1 electoral vote off of a perfect prediction of the 2004 election (as Garrett can attest to). IMHO people don't vote for their representatives on national issues as much as they do on local issues and charisma. A likable Dem will kill a nasty GOPer in most cases regardless of national issues and vice-versa. Smart Democratic contenders in the upcoming elections will sell themselves as outside the Beltway and beholden to their constituents and then...all bets are off. Those candidates who don't marry themselves to national partisan idiots like Pelosi and Reid will do well...as will GOP candidates who don't sound like Frist and Bush wannabees.