Did the GOP just surrender on Iraq?

May 16th, 2008 by JAZZ SHAW

In what can only be described as a stunning turn of events, the House yesterday took up a proposal to provide another round of funding for the war in Iraq to the tune of more than one hundred billion dollars. This wasn’t unusual. The shocking part was that more than 100 House Republicans voted “present” and the bill failed. Of course, as Matt Stoller points out, it will not truly affect war funding in the end.

This war is going to end because it is politically unsustainable. The Senate is going to add the funding back in and the House will make sure the money goes to the war, but recognize how big a deal this is. The Republicans in the House and the Senate are going to utterly collapse this fall, and Democrats will have a mandate to end the war. It’s something Obama has promised to do, and now the political logic there is undeniable.

One aspect of the GOP refusal to back the funding was the addition, by Democrats, of additional money to fund additional benefits for veterans, among other things. However, going on record with a “present” vote still lists you as having not supported funding for the war effort.

2008 is an election year for every member of the House of Representatives, and this vote leads one to wonder if the GOP hasn’t read the writing on the wall. The Iraq war is unpopular with a solid and growing majority of Americans according to every poll available. Perhaps, as November draws closer, some of the House Republicans want to get themselves on record as not funding further engagement in Iraq.

Of course, in terms of altering the outcome, will this be a case of too little, too late? One thing is for sure. John McCain, championing our continuing engagement in Iraq as part of his presidential platform, may begin to feel a bit lonely this morning.

EDIT: A paragraph was dropped out from my original draft and was added back in.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 16th, 2008 at 4:44 am and is filed under John McCain, Newsweek Blogitics, Iraq, War, 2008 Elections, Politics. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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