Associated Press:
President Bush expressed frustration on Tuesday with the congressional debate on Iraq war spending and accused majority-party Democrats of being "more interested in fighting political battles in Washington than providing our troops what they need."
See, here's the thing; congress provided funding for the war. It's the president who's 'fighting political battles in Washington,' rather than 'providing our troops what they need.' The funding's there, all Bush has to do is sign on.
Of course, he has no intention of doing that. And, by vetoing the war bill, he effectively withholds the funding he claims is essential. Way to undermine your case, Mr. President.
This is a tremendous misstep on the part of the Commander in Chief and his team. I suppose strategic blunders from Tean Bush should be no surprise at this point, but saying he can't possibly do the wrong thing every time is just playing the odds -- he has to hit a pitch eventually.
But this isn't that eventual hit. By accusing Democrats of withholding funding for war in Iraq, he frees them up to do just that. Democrats find themselves with two possible outcomes. Either the public sees things Bush's way -- in which case they lose absolutely nothing by going ahead and doing what they're accused of -- or they see reality. In the latter case, the public is already on the Dem's side (and 2006 would suggest that's the case). If you're damned if you do and damned if you don't, you might as well do it...
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