Reply #3: This is what Tom Daschle wrote as well in his book:

[TayTay]

Like No Other Time. Sen Biden had brought together other centrists behind a resolution that would have required the President to consult the Congress more on Iraq and would have introduced more restrictions under a Biden-Lugar Resolution.

This was undermined by Rep. Gephardt and Sen. Joe Lieberman who capitulated to what the White House wanted. That Rose Garden ceremony that showed Bush flanked by Lieberman and Gephardt pretty much sealed the deal on what would happen.

Ah, I also ask people to remember that the Bush Administration has since admitted that they believed they had the Constitutional Power to go to war and would have done so without an IWR Resolution. The IWR just allowed them to spread the blame should something go wrong. They calculated that no one would remember Congressional efforts to rein in Bush, only that theIWR passed and had Democratic support. Blame could then be successfully diverted away from Bush and Dems would place a lot of blame on those who tried to prevent this from happening. That was largely successful.