Ron Wyden and the Politics of the Iraq War

Cross-posted at www.mydd.com
The Iraq War is solidifying as one of the defining issues of the 2006 election. Democrats are slowly coming around to this reality, but remain divided on how to handle the issue. Some Democratic strategists, including Simon Rosenberg of the New Democrat Network, think that Democrats should agree to disagree on Iraq. However, Democratic Party leaders are discovering that they do agree on basic elements of an Iraq policy that can be contrasted with the Republicans’ agenda of “more of the same” in November, as a recent vote in the Senate demonstrated. In that vote, thirty-nine Democratic Senators voted in favor of initiating a gradual troop withdrawal from Iraq by the end of 2006. How to transform this developing unity on Iraq into a winning strategy for the 2006 congressional elections? That’s where Oregon’s Ron Wyden comes in.
As was diaried earlier on BlueOregon.com, Senator Wyden has introduced a resolution in opposition to President Bush’s declared intention that US troops will remain in Iraq as long as he is President. With this resolution, Wyden forces Republican senators to side with President Bush or with public that has long been in favor of withdrawing troops from Iraq. The resolution should be palatable to nearly all Democrats, and would provide another on-the-record contrast between Democrats and Republicans over Iraq. Democrats need to regain the offensive over this issue, and the Wyden resolution is a big step in that direction.