By Neil the Ethical Werewolf All the Democratic sorrow and Republican gloating of the past week came from the heart. With the passage of the Iraq funding bill, Democrats will be forced to watch a thousand more soldiers die, while Republicans can enjoy many more months of pretending they're good at fighting terrorists. But the political impact of the bill is exactly the opposite of what the partisans believe. The Republican Party just signed away its best chance to avoid catastrophe in 2008. As in 2006, Republicans will be left with total ownership of the Iraq War, and in voters' eyes, total responsibility for disaster. If Democrats had forced a withdrawal, voters would regard them as partially responsible for whatever followed, and as Matt says, Iraq will probably get worse with or without us. (It's our inability to change the bloody course of sectarian dynamics that eliminates any reason to stay.) But now Democrats will be able to run against Republicans on Iraq, just as they did in 2006. And given the trajectory of public opinion, things will be even worse for Republicans than before.
