Fwd: [DemocraticResearch] Leubsdorf says 'Iraq question' could split the Democratic Party

Submitted by PAAMember on December 7, 2005 - 9:01am. ::


TOM BLACKWELL <> wrote:
Mr. Leubsdorf should go back and read the Platform of the last Democratic National Convention, rather than continuing his efforts to try to make Democrats look bad.
The people of the City of Dallas voted for Kerry over Bush with a margin of 53,902 votes.
Does he have any idea about who was behind the strategy set out in the platform? Or who was behind it?  Or what they think about this now?  I didn't think so.
Carl P. Leubsdorf:
If it's not settled by '08, the 'Iraq question' could split the Democratic Party
 
 
 
10:53 PM CST on Thursday, December 1, 2005
href="http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/columnists/cleubsdorf/stories/DN-leubsdorf_01edi.ART.State.Edition3.13ba45f9.html">http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/columnists/cleubsdorf/stories/DN-leubsdorf_01edi.ART.State.Edition3.13ba45f9.html
A former Green Party member and professional saxophone player says he plans to challenge Hillary Clinton for renomination to the Senate next year. The reason: her support of the war in Iraq.
Steven Greenfield's challenge is unlikely to succeed against the heavily financed New York senator. But it illustrates the growing pressure in the Democratic Party on leaders who backed the war and are trying to distance themselves from its unpopularity.
Another sign: Sen. Joseph Biden's declaration that, while he still backs the war and thinks it can succeed, he now feels it was a mistake to vote for the 2002 resolution authorizing President Bush to attack Saddam Hussein.
"It was a mistake to assume the president would use the authority we gave him properly," said the Delaware senator, who is exploring a 2008 presidential bid.
The bottom line is that, unless the United States succeeds in Iraq by 2008, anti-war sentiment could dominate the Democratic primaries and create a split that would damage the party's chances.
A similar division may mark the GOP race, though Republicans still back the war more than Democrats and independents do.
But it's a greater problem for Democrats, because several potential candidates voted for the war in 2002, including Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Biden, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina.
Of the most-mentioned Democratic prospects, only Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin opposed the resolution authorizing Mr. Bush to use force against Iraq.
At the time, backing Mr. Bush seemed like a safe political course. The conventional
wisdom was that the U.S.-led effort would succeed quickly, though polls showed that Democrats were split on the wisdom of attacking Iraq.
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