The Nation, 3/27/06
Iraq returned as a central theme in George W. Bush’s State of the Union
address this year. With the war on the minds of many members of the
public and with the 2006 midterm elections approaching, it seemed
natural that the opposition party would forcefully challenge the
President’s policy. Instead, the Democrats ducked and covered. Virginia
Governor Tim Kaine devoted a mere three sentences to the Iraq War in
his
official Democratic response to Bush. Representative Rahm Emanuel, a
leading party strategist, didn’t even mention Iraq when asked on
television what his party would do differently from the Republicans–a
hint of how the Democrats have downplayed the issue internally. [read more]