Democrats call for ouster of Rumsfeld
By Michael McAuliff
New York Daily News
(MCT)
WASHINGTON - A movement is picking up steam among Democrats to demand Bush dump Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
"There are growing doubts about how competently he's conducted the war, whatever your ideology," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
Democrats and some Republicans have said before that the combative defense secretary should quit. But Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., proposed a formal resolution last week after Rumsfeld compared administration critics to Nazi appeasers, saying they don't understand the fascist threat of Islamic terrorists.
Rumsfeld was one of several administration officials, including the president, who hit the trail last week talking up their national security strategies - the one area where Americans consistently side with the GOP these days.
Both sides insist they're not playing election-year politics, but most polls find voters favor Democrats on just about every other issue, making it in the party's interest to discuss Iraq - and to make Rumsfeld the lightning rod.
"I think he should resign. He's fundamentally incompetent," Democratic party boss Howard Dean said on CBS' "Face the Nation."
One of Rumsfeld's defenders, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., responded on the show that Democrats want to "wave the white flag" in Iraq, and he portrayed the Democrats as weak.
"I think Secretary Rumsfeld has done an excellent job," he said. "He'll be remembered as one of the great secretaries of defense."
But Schumer said the momentum was growing for the nonbinding resolution to ditch Rumsfeld. "There's a lot of discussion," he said.
"I'll probably support it," Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., said on ABC's "This Week," calling Rumsfeld an "impediment" in the war.
"He is not someone who is offering answers, and the rest of the world looks at what he has to say and continues to lose confidence in our ability," Biden said.
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