For all the talk from Republican senators about their willingness to embrace a significant change in war policy, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is going to give them a chance to put their votes where their mouths are.
Reid acknowledged that Senate Dems “haven’t done enough” to oppose the president’s policy, but appears anxious to correct the caucus’ shortcomings.
Sensing momentum from the new Republican defections, Mr. Reid and other leading Democrats intend to force a series of votes over the next two weeks on proposals to withdraw troops and limit spending. Democrats are increasingly confident they can assemble majority opposition to administration policies. […]
In the first round of debates about the war, there was Democratic anxiety about appearing unsupportive of the troops, and Mr. Reid sought to keep a tighter rein on his colleagues who were pushing for the strongest antiwar legislation. But in the shifting environment, Democrats are newly emboldened.
Mr. Reid said he now saw ending the war as a moral duty, and even if the Senate again falls short, he said, he would turn again and again to Iraq until either the president relents or enough Republicans join Democrats to overrule Mr. Bush.
“I think that each time these people vote to continue what’s going on in Iraq it is a bad, bad move for them and a worse move for our country,” Mr. Reid said.
The NYT article notes the fragility of the Democratic majority on Iraq. Reid starts with a 51-seat majority, which drops to 50 with Sen. Tim Johnson’s (D-S.D.) health trouble, and drops again to 49 with Joe Lieberman’s tendency to be, well, Joe Lieberman.
But Reid seems to believe the wind’s at his back, and with Republicans anxious to distance themselves from failure, there’s a growing optimism that Defense appropriations will be a turning point.
We’ll see. Gamblers are yet to lose money betting on Republican lawmakers sticking with the Bush White House, no matter how ridiculous it appears. But with Reid perceiving this struggle, apparently for the first time, as a moral imperative, the conditions seem encouraging.
In May, the party capitulated when push came to shove. At a minimum, the caucus appears a lot less likely back down now.
