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Edited on Fri Nov-18-05 11:12 AM by welshTerrier2
it seems to me the dispute on Iraq within the Democratic Party is between positions of Senate Democrats (e.g. Levin, Kerry) and House members like Jim McGovern or Rep. Murtha ...
the Senate Dems generally have called for a series of benchmarks, that they have not defined and prefer to have bush specify, that would, when achieved, allow a phased withdrawal of troops ... while some of these proposals have suggested a timeframe in which they would like to see these benchmarks met, troop withdrawal would be 100% contingent on the meeting of each benchmark ... if the benchmarks are not met, troop withdrawal would not occur ... so, just to be clear, i don't see any calls for "setting a date" ...
as for "being able to unite", the goal is valid; the current process is not ... we cannot just call for unity; we have to achieve unity ...
Murtha hit the nail on the head, as did you, when he said the public is way ahead of the Congress on Iraq ... he's saying, and i agree, that those pushing plans to stay in Iraq another year or more are way out of touch with the American people and way, way out of touch with a strong majority of Democrats ...
the divisiveness, which i agree is harmful and must be resolved, is the direct result of the Senate Democrats' failure to represent the views held by their own constituents ... these Senators need to get back to their districts and hold regular, free, public forums on Iraq ... Dean, as Party Chair, needs to propose a process to heal the rift ... he has NOT done this ... he can't make Senators return to their districts and exchange their thoughts on Iraq with Democratic voters but he could call on them to do so ...
the Democratic Party is witnessing internal strife because voters have very strong feelings about this very critical issue ... it's time for Party leaders to call for a real discussion with the American people instead of arrogantly and selfishly making decisions on their own ... the Democratic Party needs a large, healthy infusion of democracy ... i'm confident that "working through the issue" could lead to a negotiated resolution of our differences ... but we're just not seeing an intra-party process to lead us where we need to go ...
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