Dickensian Moose suggests that this is not the best of times for the GOP, but rather the worst of times. "The language of the declaration, which implied that Mr. Maliki had the power to command American forces, seemed to overstep his authority and to be aimed at placating his Shiite constituency."
Election night will not be a happy time for the elephant for one central reason - incompetence. The GOP has to be the first political party that has both "lost" a city and is losing a war.
This election is fundamentally about the Republican incompetence in the aftermath both of the hurricane in New Orleans and of the liberation of Baghdad. The GOP was supposed to be the party of corporate efficiency. Instead, they have proven to be the party of hapless incompetents.
The Republicans will at least lose the House because of their failures in New Orleans and Baghdad. Consequently, this election is a tale of two cities.
Let's be clear, if a Democratic Administration was currently in charge of this Iraq policy, there would be conservative rioting in the streets. Rather than being in a lather over a botched, lame comment from a failed Democratic candidate, the right would be in a fury over an Administration that appears weak, hapless and feckless.
This is the latest from Baghdad concerning Maliki's order, in deference to Al-Sadr, to remove American checkpoints,
"But by nightfall, American troops had abandoned all the positions in eastern and central Baghdad that they had set up last week with Iraqi forces as part of a search for a missing American soldier. The checkpoints had snarled traffic and disrupted daily life and commerce throughout the eastern part of the city.
The question on the table should not be how to withdraw and lose Iraq, but rather how to prevent a terrorist/Iranian client state from emerging. Instead, the election debate is centered on silly posturing and gotcha politics.
After the election, the central question will be which party can make the third city - Washington - functional again. If Democrats control one or both chambers, they may not be able to pass major legislation, but they will have the opportunity to demonstrate that they can be trusted as a responsible, governing party.
But, this year Republicans will pay a steep price for their manifold failures in two cities. -- | 
Email
this post
