GOP candidates fear Iraq war fallout: "ball and chain around the GOP ankle"

[DeepModem Mom]

LAT: GOP candidates fear Iraq war fallout
Lawmakers have started to veer from the party line to keep from paying the price in next year's election.
By Janet Hook, Times Staff Writer
July 17, 2007

WASHINGTON — Election day is more than a year away, but Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine is already facing a barrage of attack ads, protesters at her local offices and a strong Democratic challenger. It's a far different environment than in her last race for reelection, when her popularity was soaring and she won a commanding 58% of the vote.

The one-word explanation for the change: Iraq.

As Congress wrestles with Democratic proposals to withdraw U.S. troops and limit the war in Iraq, the home-state pressure on Collins and other Republicans helps explain why an increasing number of GOP lawmakers now seem ready to veer from the party line.

The 2008 campaign season is starting to take shape for congressional candidates, and many Republicans see warning signs that the steepest price for the administration's Iraq policy may be paid not by President Bush, who will not be on the ballot, but by the GOP lawmakers who will be.

In New Hampshire, a recent poll found Republican Sen. John E. Sununu trailing one possible Democratic challenger by a double-digit margin.

In Minnesota, Sen. Norm Coleman raised about $300,000 less in the second quarter than his best-known Democratic challenger, comedian Al Franken.

In Oregon, approval ratings for Sen. Gordon H. Smith did not improve after he switched positions and called for a U.S. troop withdrawal.

Republicans say they hope passion about the Iraq war will cool by the time 2008 ballots are cast. But they acknowledge that if the election were held tomorrow, the war would be a ball and chain around the GOP ankle....

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-senategop17jul17,0,3916428.story

[gratuitous]

1. Karl's brilliant plan not working out so well?

Of course, the GOP would rather talk about practically anything but the Iraq war. Will the Democrats let them? We know the popular media will do anything they can for their Republican friends. Will we let them change the subject?

The GOP line has been from time to time that abandoning the lost cause in Iraq would dishonor the memory and sacrifice of those who have died. But they're perfectly willing to throw away those memories and those sacrifices when it's politically expedient to do so.