Politics of '06, '08 at Play for Dems
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 24, 2006
WASHINGTON (AP) -- When two Democrats looking toward 2008 pushed hard for a firm date on withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, they crashed headlong into Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid's effort to retake the Senate this year.
Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin want to pull out all combat forces over the next year, a proposal that delights the left wing of the Democratic Party but that failed overwhelmingly in the Senate on Thursday.
That 86-13 vote forced Democrats in difficult midterm election campaigns, such as Sens. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Maria Cantwell of Washington, to go on record on the question of ending the military mission in Iraq -- and risk the wrath of liberals in their states.
Bucking pleas from party leaders, Kerry and Feingold insisted that the Senate vote on their proposal. That created a political headache for Reid, who had been trying to rally Democrats around a more moderate Iraq resolution -- one that called for troop withdrawals but didn't include an end date -- in hopes of uniting the party and maximizing its chances of retaking the Senate in November. The Democrats need six seats for the majority.
In the end, the GOP-led Senate defeated the two Democratic plans for pulling out U.S. forces -- but only after two weeks of haggling that left the party fractured on Iraq and even caused divisions in the leadership ranks, pitting Reid against his top lieutenant, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois....
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Senate-Iraq-Politics.html
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