To understand the disconnect between what we feel and what the DC based, consulting class does over the supplemental vote--one only needs to read this piece by Stuart Rothernberg. I like a good novel too, but this is lunacy.

First, Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill played the issue like a Stradivarius. They forced a vote on a deadline for withdrawal from Iraq, putting Republicans on record supporting the status quo and President Bush, but allowed a subsequent vote to "fund the troops." That gave their own Members from swing districts the opportunity to demonstrate their support for the military. From a purely political point of view, Democrats had their cake and ate it too...read on

Matt does a good and proper take down that you should read.

The Democrats lost twelve points among independents and eighteen points among liberal Democrats, leading to an overall slide of ten points. From a twenty four point lead in leadership over Bush in April, the Democrats now sit at parity with him. If you are politically craven, this was a terrible move...read on

I think it's important to note that there are differences of opinion in the Democratic ranks over Iraq and that's fine as long as they are honest about their positions to us. but this spin is just plain silly and destructive. (see the graph below.)

David has more...