Griper Blade: Is the War Over?

A new poll was released yesterday and, among other things, the Pew Center for the People and the Press found that Bush has -- as I've been saying all along -- painted himself into a corner in the Iraq war funding debate. The findings show that a solid majority of americans back Congress on a timeline for troop withdrawal.

It gets better. Not only do a majority think that Bush is wrong, but a majority of those (54%) want no compromise on the issue. Bush is even losing Republicans over this. While 44% of GOP voters back Bush's approach to Iraq, 49% think we should 'Take a different approach.'

Here's what I see -- if dems stick to their guns and keep giving Bush funding bills with timelines, there is no downside (other than one caveat I'll get to later). If Bush keeps vetoing bills with restrictions, he's effectively defunding the Iraq war -- by his own hand. Democrats don't have to cut funding if Bush is more than willing to do it himself. In doing this, they would force those Republicans who back Bush to continue to make unpopular votes to sustain Bush's vetos. That'll cost them in '08.

If the nearly impossible happens and Bush caves, dems win the political contest and undying gratitude of a majority of americans...

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