 | The Politics Blog No-holds-barred commentary on the political arena. |
Chris Dodd has been crystal clear on this. Now Obama has joined that club.
Obama, who had resisted measures to tie money for the war to a deadline for withdrawal, said Sunday he would no longer support funding measures in the Senate that do not include deadlines.
“We are going to bring an end to this war and I will fight hard in the United States Senate to make sure we don’t pass any funding bill that does not have a deadline,” Obama told the crowd.
Perfect. Now can we hear this from Hillary? A unified front from the Senate presidential candidates on this front — two of which are the two highest-profile Democrats in the land (Hillary and Barack) would go a long way toward framing the terms of this debate.
Get ready to hear a lot about this race. It pits challenger Mark Pera against incumbent Dan Lipinski — one of the worst Bush Dogs, and one serving in a solidly Democratic district. A recap of the race:
Democrats upset by how Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.) acquired his seat and what he’s done with it will give the second-termer another primary challenge in 2008.
Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Mark Pera has filed papers with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), and yesterday told The Hill that he will announce his candidacy for Lipinski’s seat after July 4.
Lipinski won his seat in 2004 after his father, Rep. William Lipinski, decided not to run for reelection after having won the Democratic primary. In a move that has not sat well with some Democrats, the younger Lipinski, a political science professor in Tennessee who had not lived in the state for years, was nominated to replace his father with no opposition.
He sailed through the general election in a solidly Democratic district that contains southwest Chicago and its suburbs.
Daniel Lipinski’s detractors contend that he is out of sync with the district on social issues — he is socially conservative on issues such as abortion and stem cell research — and he has riled the liberal base with what it sees as his continued support for the Iraq war.
Like all good Lieberdems, Lipinski yesterday held hands with a Republican — in this case endangered Rep. Mark Kirk — to join forces for … I don’t know. For something, I guess. The Pera campaign had someone file a report from the event:
Lipinski and Kirk told the private gathering of members of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs that they are speaking out together to forge a new path forward in Iraq.
“The best possible outcome for Democrats is to invite in Republicans such as Kirk to join us. I’m aware every Democrat will not support the Iraq Study Group and this bipartisan solution,” Lipinski said. “For the last four months, we’ve maintained the status quo because legislation brought forward could not be passed without a veto from the President.”
And what grand solution would their happy-happy-holding-hands-together legislation accomplish?
The Lipinski-Kirk plan calls for a phased withdrawal similar to the one that U.S. Gen. David Petraeus outlined on Monday. Under the plan, one troop brigade would return to the U.S. in December and three more would be removed in the spring, without replacement. It would provide for troop levels in July 2008 of about 130,000, which is equal to “pre-surge” troop levels.
Got that? We’d simply hit the “reset” button, taking 10 months to get us back to the pre-surge status quo. And somehow, this “bipartisan” bill (which Bush will announce this week anyway) is supposed to be a solution to anything?
Nope, it’s two endangered congressmen — one a Republican, the other a Lieberdem — clinging together for dear life in the face of an unpopular war that they in reality support. Their actions don’t change the facts on the ground (the surge was always unsustainable for the long haul). It does nothing to end a conflict in which a solution is far beyond our grasp.
On the web:
Mark Pera for Congress
Dan Seals for Congress (Kirk’s Democratic opponent, and 2006 netroots candidate)
So Bush is coming to Washington state Monday, for a VIP reception costing $10,000 and a general reception costing $1,000, money that will go into the campaign coffers of his good buddy and stalwart Iraq occupation supporter, GOP Rep. Dave Reichert.
Maybe Bush can come a little early and stop by the Iraq Town Hall forum Darcy Burner has organized, which will also be streamed online. He’d hear a thing or two about Iraq and what the people of Washington’s 8th congressional district think about it–things he’s never going to hear from Dave Reichert.
I’m honored to be moderating this forum and to announce the impressive list of panelists who will participate:
Jon Soltz — the co-founder and chairman of VoteVets.org, Jon is a veteran of the Iraq War, where he served as a captain with the 1st Armored Division during Operation Iraqi Freedom. His considered one of the country’s most authoritative voices on veterans and military issues and is a regular contributor to the MSNBC program “Countdown” with Keith Olbermann. He also blogs on military and veterans issues at the Huffington Post.
Navy Capt. Larry Seaquist (ret.) — a former US naval officer, Captain Seaquist commanded a number of warships including the battleship USS IOWA during his distinguished 32-year career. He also served as a senior security strategist in the Pentagon including an appointment as the Director of Policy Research in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. During the period leading up to the Gulf War he was Acting Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Planning. He currently serves in the Washington State legislature and writes regularly for major newspapers and defense journals.
Lorin Walker — serves as vice-president of VetPac, a political action committee dedicated to electing candidates who preserve the values for which veterans have served, fought and died. She is the daughter of Captain Bruce C. Walker USAF, MIA 1972. A resident of Washington State, she is active in veterans affairs and Democratic politics and works at Microsoft.
Professor Clark Lombardi — teaches comparative law at the University of Washington and is an expert on Islamic legal systems. He recently returned from a trip to Iraq, and speaks knowledgably about the difficulties the United States faces in Iraq in creating effective civil institutions that are critical to the functioning of a stable and effective democracy.
Major General Paul D. Eaton (ret.), who went ot Iraq in 2003 to lead the effort to recreate the Iraqi military from scratch and who since his retirement has stepped forward to speak plainly about the Bush administration’s incompetence in conducting the Iraq War and callousness in treating its active duty forces and veterans, is unable to attend in person but has submitted a video statement for the “Send a Message” virtual town hall. The same is true of Ambassador Joe Wilson, a netroots hero who was one of the first voices to speak out in exposing the administration’s efforts to falsely hype the Iraqi regime’s efforts to acquire nuclear materials in the run-up to the war.
The forum will be streamed live at Darcy Burner’s site at 3:00 pm PT, 6:00 pm ET Monday. You can submit your questions for the panel. Actual space at the event is limited, but if you’re local and are interested in attending in person, contact the campaign for details.
And while you’re at it, kick in a few bucks. Back up your message to Bush on Iraq by making it hurt where it matters most to Republicans–the money. We have a goal today of 2,000 contributions. As of 12:30 PT, we’re at 1,683.
