You know, Harry, let me explain something to you.
It's not just that we want the war to be over, like, yesterday. We want to see you trying. We want to see the Democrats, again and again and again, tying this war to Bush's tail and making him suffer the consequences. We want you and every other Democrat to take every available opportunity to bring up this war, to denounce it, to say it's unspeakable and to remind voters just whose bright idea it was. If you're on Tim Russert's show and he says, "Nice weather we've been having," the correct Democratic response is, "I only wish all those soldiers George Bush sent to Iraq were here to see it. Maybe it'll still be nice when they come home to get fitted for their new prosthetic legs."
And when you get enough of the public riled up, yes, even the Republicans will go along. Because Republican voters will be calling their congressmen, too, demanding we get out of Iraq.
Don't you get it? When you reduce this war to procedural tactics and getting the Republicans to agree with you, you have already lost the fight for public support. This isn't about collegiality, Harry. It's about the maimed bodies of troops and civilians, the stench of human flesh in the desert heat.
Not that you'll listen, but you can't say no one ever told you:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The new Democratic-led Congress is drawing the ire of voters upset with its failure to quickly deliver on a promise to end the Iraq war.
This is reflected in polls that show Congress -- plagued by partisan bickering mostly about the war -- at one of its lowest approval ratings in a decade. Surveys find only about one in four Americans approves of it.
"I understand their disappointment," said Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada. "We raised the bar too high."
In winning control of Congress from President George W. Bush's Republicans last November, Democrats told voters they would move swiftly to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq. But they now say voters must understand they need help from Republicans to clear procedural hurdles, override presidential vetoes and force Bush to change course.