According to Arianna Huffington, Democrats need to show...

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

...they’re serious about ending the war by giving the Senate a bill to vote on that would actually end the war. Do you agree?

Note: For the purposes of this poll we'll assume "end the war" means nothing less than a troop withdrawal plan with a firm, nonnegotiable timetable.

Source: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/07/10/2422/

[rzemanfl]

1. After watching the author of "Emerald City" last night, I think step

one needs to be a plan for conducting a fighting withdrawal from Iraq. It is not going to be simple to extract our people. Not that I am pro-war, but since no one planned ahead, withdrawal could be an ugly bloodbath, which BushCo would blame on guess who?

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

2. It certainly needs to be methodical and carefully planned...

...by qualified military planners, but it shouldn't be delayed.

[rzemanfl]

5. It's not going to be easy and a lot of equipment will be destroyed.

Anything that breaks down is going to be rendered inoperable and abandoned. The author (a foreign name I cannot begin to spell) envisioned columns of personnel and vehicles confined to a few highways and under attack the whole way out.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

6. It may turn out to be a tough, bloody withdrawal...

...but there's no reason to believe delaying it would change that. We're an illegal occupying force that a full 80% of the occupied citizenry wants gone from their country. We have no legitimate business being there. We must leave -- the question of "sooner or later" is a no brainer.

[rzemanfl]

8. There are no good options. n/t

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

12. True. nt.

[churchofreality]

3. She'll just find something else to trash Democrats after that

I don't like Arianna.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

4. It's funny you should say that because I picked her piece for this poll...

...because I thought she did a tactful job of saying what needed saying WITHOUT trashing anyone or the Dem party in general. I guess it depends on how one perceives things and what constitutes trashing. I normally think of "trashing" as an unfounded attack, usually overly harsh and condescending. I didn't see that in her piece.

[MADem]

7. Well, she used to bat for the other team. She was as NEOCON as they come.

I suppose we should be heartened that she saw the light. She does like to gripe, now.

I'm not sure what she means here, though--there's a broad brush idea but it's shy on details. I think it might not be a bad idea to start ginning up a bill along with attendant publicity and back-and-forth about the provisions (get the perceived weaknesses out there, smack them down one by one with modifications/amendments) and maybe find a credible GOP cosponsor. Hagel is a good one, only that might help him out should he decide to run with Bloomie. Maybe Lugar...???

Then we might see more of the wobbly 22 GOP senators start to make a move, and that would be heartening to anyone who knows how to count. Some of them will want something for their vote, others might just want to get onboard early to try to save their Senate seats...

I would like the bill to be fairly Ready For Prime Time when it hits the floor, though. Otherwise, it could be tied up forever...

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

9. The attention drawn to ending the war from a bill would be helpful and...

...those who don't want to end the war should have their position on this tattooed to their forehead by making them vote against ending the war -- again and again if necessary. Their arguments would ring hollow over time and when they saw public reaction they might do a quick 180.

[MADem]

10. Once the publicity starts, you know reporters will start asking specific Senators how they intend

to vote--especially the local papers in the individual states. It will be pretty interesting to get those comments on the record. They can't duck forever, because that will be reported, too.

I can't wait to see the wafflers under the gun.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

11. You're so right...

... MSM is no longer toeing the BushCo line on Iraq like they used to. Stubborn Senators would draw unwanted bad press for themselves and the GOP in general. As the '08 elections approach these are costs they won't want to bear. Dems can have their way on this if they'll just fight for it.