No Evangelical GOP votes "if Iraqi constitution enshrines Islamic law?"

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9023597/site/newsweek/

Even in deer-hunter country Iraq is an issue, and it could well be a central one in next year's congressional elections. But the terrain is tricky. Democrats see that the conflict is eroding President Bush's job-approval numbers, but they are wary of being portrayed as proponents of a "cut and run" policy, already one of Karl Rove's pet slogans. Republicans want to demonstrate their independence of judgment on the issue, but need to find a way to do so without seeming to abandon Bush or spark debilitating intraparty feuds.

At least for now, Democratic candidates largely have avoided getting too close to the Cindy Sheehan Show, and few seem interested in joining Sen. Russ Feingold's call, due this week, for a firm timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Casey opposes the idea. "I think to do that, you risk giving the enemy information they shouldn't have," he said. Democrats are offering themselves as concerned supply officers eager to ensure that soldiers get body armor, medical care for their families—and an Iraqi Army capable of taking over. It's a popular message in Cambria County, which, not surprisingly, has sent an unusually large contingent of reservists and National Guard to Iraq.

Republicans will try to force the Democrats off that safe ground by demanding answers to more fundamental questions. Casey says that he would have voted for the Iraq war resolution "based on the facts at the time and what the president told us" and for the appropriations bills to pay for it. "I don't think we'll know for a while" if the Iraq invasion has made America safer, he said, but he adds that "there is no doubt that people here in Pennsylvania think that we're better off without Saddam Hussein." Santorum claimed rhetorical victory. "He answered the questions the same way I did," he said.

But piling up debating points won't protect Republicans from the voters or even from each other. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld could face new calls for his ouster, this time from GOP ranks. When Sen. John McCain peppers him with military strategy and management questions, Democrats—Casey included—feel it's safe to follow. Meanwhile, NEWSWEEK has learned, conservative Christian leaders privately are warning that Republicans will lose evangelical votes next year if the Iraqi constitution enshrines Islamic law at the expense of religious freedom there. As for Bush, he sets out this week on a three-city tour to try to shore up support for the war even as aides enunciate a somber message: that "keeping the enemy at bay won't be easy," as his communications director, Nicolle Devenish, put it. Santorum's emerging strategy, meanwhile, focuses on luring Casey into debates. The president remains popular in Cambria County, which he won twice despite a heavy Democratic registration edge. Still, while you might see the senator at Cernic's next year, don't expect to see the commander in chief.