Ignoring Iraq

Chris Bowers and Kos Comment yesterday on the alarming indications that the DCCC is to simply leave the Iraq War out of the Democratic platform going into 2006. It's alarming for a few reasons, which Bowers and Kos point out:

1. Ignoring Iraq worked great in 2002.

2. Support for the war is collapsing.

3. It's a moral issue - the longer the war goes on, the more pointless bloodshed there will be.

Now, I think that withdrawal should be the Democratic platform. The Dem leadership might not feel that they can build consensus around this position. Fine. They don't have to talk about withdrawal. They have to say something about Iraq, though.. Just keep up the pressure. Put the ball in the Republicans' court. Demand a strategy. After all, it will ultimately be up to Bush to decide to withdraw from Iraq, and we can't let the GOP get ahead of us on this.

I'm worried because I feel that the Democrats are poised for a sweep in 2006, but the leadership doesn't have the vision to sieze the opportunity. Howard Dean, where are you?

I'll have more to say about this later.