Duck and Cover

Republican members of the Senate have been tripping over themselves to publicly announce that while they were against setting timetables in legislation, President Bush’s Iraq policies had better bear fruit by the early fall or Republican support for said policies will melt away in the Senate. (I find it fascinating that publishing deadlines in legislation is surrender, but publishing deadlines in the Washington Post is fine and dandy.) It is actually a smart political move on their part. If by some chance, Bush’s gambit actually works and turns the mess in Iraq around, they can claim long-standing support for his “courage” and “leadership.” On the other side of the coin, with elections then only a year away and yet another Bush policy having gone down in flames, they can claim to Republican voters that they supported of the President for as long as possible, but that now is the time for “bold action.” (Of course, that action will then be pretty much what the Democrats have been touting since the 2006 election, a fact that will be neatly swept under the rug.)

Make no mistake about it, this is a move entirely driven by the 2008 election. Senate Republicans have much more at stake in 2008 than do the Democrats. There are far more Republican incumbents facing reelection than Democrats. Moreover, Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO) is the only Senator who has announced his retirement. Allard’s retirement is especially troubling for Republicans because Colorado has been trending Democratic in recent statewide elections. (It is a boon to Colorado regardless, however, because Allard is an all-time wanker.)

Of course, the reason that the President is so against a withdrawal from Iraq is that he does not want the ultimate implosion of this country, and perhaps the wider region in general, on his watch. (Yes, it can get worse.) He’ll do anything to drag it out until January 2009. The question looming large in all of this is how many people, American, coalition, and Iraqi, will be killed in the mean time as Republicans – and Democrats – demonstrate “leadership.”