With a call for escalation that most people want prevented and a war most want defunded, Bush finds his position about as appealling to most americans as a bad case of the clap.
Washington Post:
The bipartisan opposition to President Bush's troop-increase plan has proved more intense than his advisers hoped and has left them scrambling to find support, but the White House is banking on the assumption that it can execute its "new way forward" in Iraq before Congress can derail it.
The plan to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq was virtually guaranteed to provoke a furor in Washington, Bush advisers said, but the storm was exacerbated by the slow, leaky way that the White House reached a decision. The policy review stretched two months after the election and the essence of the plan became known long before Bush announced it, making it a political piñata for opponents.
Without Bush making the case for it until last week, resistance hardened, and aides now harbor no hope of winning over Democrats. Instead, they aim mainly to keep Republicans from abandoning him further. Bush invited GOP leaders to Camp David this weekend and will argue his case to the nation on CBS's "60 Minutes" tonight. Vice President Cheney and national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley will also hit the airwaves today.
Yeah, good luck with that. As WaPo points out, the plan was so well-leaked by the White House (my theory -- leak the details so you can concentrate on the sell) that most opinions of it are pretty much set. I doubt this PR strategy worked out the way they'd planned.
The WaPo piece goes on to say, "Many Democrats, in fact, have proposed alternatives centered around pulling out troops, an idea Bush flatly rejects." That's not exactly true; Bush not only rejects democratic plans, he denies they even exist:
Transcript of the President's Weekly Radio Address:
Members of Congress have a right to express their views, and express them forcefully. But those who refuse to give this plan a chance to work have an obligation to offer an alternative that has a better chance for success. To oppose everything while proposing nothing is irresponsible.
It doesn't make much sense to lie and say dems don't have a plan when they're all over cable telling everyone what their plan is. But pulling out is a plan he doesn't like, so the president puts it in the same category as 'no plan.'
In the end, Bush's position -- like his plan -- is a loser. Come '08, people will remember who worked with the people and who worked with the president to extend this pointless war.
Tags: news | politics | war | iraq | disaster | Military | Bush | democrat | congress | troop surge
