The Note: Senatorial Shockwaves
A blunt message saps the president’s political momentum
By RICK KLEIN
Aug. 24, 2007
Forget the National Intelligence Estimate, the $15 million ad campaign, the much-awaited Petraeus report, and the slick new White House PR offensive. Here are 14 words that matter more than all of that put together -- a sentence that just might end a war: "I say to the president, with great respect, consider that you initiate the withdrawal," said Sen. John Warner, R-Va.
The simple statement from the courtliest of senators (and a veteran, a former Navy secretary, and former chairman of the Armed Services Committee) sent a jolt from Capitol Hill to the White House and beyond -- and reorders the politics of the Iraq war. For President Bush, it makes the calls for a change in strategy impossible to ignore. For Republicans in Congress, it provides all the cover they need to vote the way their constituents are increasingly demanding. And for Democrats, Warner is a powerful example of a hawk whose patience has run out....
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