Iraq is no winner for Democrats
By DonSurber
Democrats could not have had a better October.
The month began two days after Mark Foley resigned from the House after sending inappropriate e-mails to a House page.
Bob Woodward's book, "Et Moi, Brutus," made a splash.
A WH turncoat's book also came out.
North Korea tested nukes.
Baghdad looks like it is in meltdown.
Rush Limbaugh made fun of Michael J. Fox.
So where, as the month ends, is that Democratic wave? Where is the Democratic tsunami that would finally take the taste of 1994 out of the mouths of the Charlie Rangels and Dave Obeys? Where are the Republican states turning Democratic?
It ain't happening.
In fact, if this election is a referendum on Iraq, Democrats are in trouble.
Outside of Pennsylvania, where Republican Rick Santorum faces another tough battle, voters are not flocking to antiwar candidates.
My state-by-state rundown on the closest states.
Rhode Island. If Democrats knock off Republican Lincoln Chafee, it won't be because of Iraq. He was the only Republican senator to vote against going to Iraq, putting him to the left of the 2004 Democratic presidential and vice presidential nominees, both of whom were among teh 22 Democratic senators who vote for the war. Chafee toyed with the idea of switching parties in 2004.
This is pure party politics. Rhode Island is so Democratic it elected a drunken Kennedy to Congress.
Connecticut. Democrats cashiered Joe Lieberman because of his support for Iraq. Ned Lamont IV opposes Iraq. Should be a walk for Lamont, the Democratic Party's official nominee. A Lieberman win shows that the public supports the president's policy in Iraq.
Ohio. Democrat Sherrod Brown is like the guy who could not get laid in a whorehouse with a $100 bill in each hand. The Republican Party in Ohio imploded. Republican Mike DeWine has been a flimsy senator for 12 years. And yet, with less than 10 days to go the election is this headline in the Plain Dealer today: "Ohio's closest Senate race in a decade."
Close. No cigar. No demand from voters to pull out now.
Maryland. Democrats are throwing all sorts of racist garbage at Republican Michael Steele. Iraq? What's that? Neither candidate supports it.
Montana. Crewcut Democrat Jon Tester is beating up Republican Conrad Burns by portraying him as gone DC. Burns never won big. Iraq? Iraq? Isn't that outside Billings?
Missouri. So goes Missouri, so goes the nation. This Senate seat was won by a dead man in 2000, lost by his widow two years later, and will hinge on whether Michael J. Fox was undermedicated or overmedicated. Iraq? Hello?
Virginia. Macaca. Sexually explicit novels. Jewish ancestry. This was supposed to be Republican George Allen's warmup for an '08 presidential bid. Virginia has gone from being the birthplace of presidents to being the Dumpster for presidential bids. Next!
Tennessee. Will his visit to the Playboy Mansion offset being related to so mny crooked politicians for Democrat Harold Ford? That is the question. Iraq? He supported it.
New Jersey. It is like a bad TV script but the issue once again is how bad a crook is the Democrat in New Jersey? Again, Iraq is not the issue, rather the trustworthiness of the officeholder.
So there you have it. 10 races. 10 seats. Iraq is the top issue in 2 of them. And the antiwar Democrat is way behind in Connecticut. |
