Just who exactly are the Democratic party leaders you speak of? From what I can tell, the leadership seems to have splintered and gone divergent ways. It'd be interesting to be a fly on the wall in a room that only contained Hillary and Howard Dean. I'll bet there's some real shouting going on there. I often hear the term "herding cats" referencing the Dems coming up with a consensus.

Your take on this is a form of prejudice Tom where you're branding the "left" with the actions of a few bombastic idiots. When I was making my points here, I never once considered what those morons thought. I'm instead talking about my interactions with average citizens that seem to align themselves left or right of center. I find that the vast majority only lean slightly either way. There's not much difference at all.

But in the end Tom, Huffington nailed it, not because Chuck Hagel's not supporting the President or Lieberman is but because there are millions of people in this country willing to look at an important issue outside of the narrow confines of their party platform. If the polls are right, and your argument holds, then the Democrats should be rejoicing because their numbers overwhelm the Republicans on this issue. Obviously, that's not the case.

This isn't left or right for the vast majority of citizens. I believe it's simple common sense finally hitting the population about the futility of trying to reshape some distant country with an alien culture to our own. Your rigidity is going to hurt your cause on this one. I should just let you claim victory. If continuing to fight the "war" in Iraq is truly owned by the right, the political damage they will endure when we leave bloody, battered, and frustrated will take decades to undo. I never did learn to mind my business though because the downfall of the Republican party hurts our country more than helps it. I just wish I could help you see that.

Art