Final Thought on the Iraq Supplemental (Capitulation) Bill

I've said before that the Democrats should've sent the same bill back to the President and told him that it was his last chance. If he vetoed it then there would not be another bill and in effect he would be cutting off the funding for the troops. That is framing the debate. Too many Democrats were worried that the President could use this against the party and make them look like the bad guys. That requires the assumption that the American people actually support this President and his disastrous policies in Iraq. Briefly let's run down the list of public sentiment:

1)Americans have unfavorable opinion of the President
2)Americans against surge
3)Americans for timelines
4)Americans for benchmarks
5)Americans for redeployment
6)Americans against cutting off funding

So they honestly believe that President could win a PR battle when he would be on the losing end of ALL 6 points I've listed above?

That would be quite a daunting task for Tony Snow.

I think the American people would turn even further against the President and this would cascade through the Republican party. Eventually the President would either HAVE to sign the bill or he would get overridden by a 2/3 majority

That's the winning play IMO...

Iraq Supplemental Negotiation in a Nutshell

Democrats: We want a binding timeline

Bush: No

Democrats: We want a non-binding timeline

Bush: No

Democrats: We want binding benchmarks

Bush: No

Democrats: Ok, we'll give you whatever you want

Bush: Thanks

Democrats: This is not a blank check. This forces a new direction in Iraq. This shows we are committed to ending the war.

Me: Whatever

The best part of this is hearing the leadership say they are just extending the debate to the defense authorization bill and the defense supplemental bill. Will someone explain to me why the President would take any future threats from this congress seriously?