How Pressure on McConnell Helps End the Occupation

[babylonsister]

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=29494CCF73D06719E807BAA93010C692?diaryId=76

How Pressure on McConnell Helps End the Occupation
by: Matt Stoller
Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 16:44:44 PM EDT

Today I got an email from Steve Kirsch, an entrepreneurial type who does brilliant thinking on global warming, letting me know that Congressman George Miller had answered my youtube question on trust and the Democratic Congress. Miller has an interesting new program up called 'Ask George', in which anyone can submit a youtube video or blog post tagged 'Ask George', and Congressman Miller will answer it. Miller is a wonderful Congressman, and he is known as a Pelosi loyalist with immense influence on the Congressional agenda, so his outreach is quite meaningful. My question was why should we trust that Democrats will stand up to Bush, and Miller essentially pointed to three things Democrats had done. One, the Democratic Congress had forced Bush to veto the bill, two, there have been a lot of hearings, and three, there will be more votes.

In terms of why Democrats didn't send the same bill back, which was not my question but was a strategy put forward by among others John Edwards, Miller pointed out that Senate Minority Leader would simply have forced Reid to come up with 60 votes, which Reid could not have done. The only reason the bill was passed the first time is because McConnell and Reid cut a deal to let the bill go through without a filibuster. I'm not sure I agree with Miller's argument, especially as he fell into the funding frame trap ('defunding the war equals hurting the troops') but I respect him and his outreach. I hope more members follow Miller's lead.

As for Miller's instinct that Democrats do have another bite at the apple, well, Democratic Senators are feeling more confident. Senator Mitch McConnell is really Bush's plug in the dike, and he's increasingly vulnerable. Today, the DSCC is launching an ad against McConnell, which is incredibly unusual for a party committee.

Senator Schumer is media savvy, and my read is that this ad is designed more as a statement of DSCC priorities than a real attempt to knock down McConnell's numbers. But stating those priorities, while Democratic elites and liberal groups plan their strategies for 2008, is a critical part of building a narrative of vulnerability.

The blogs, the protests, the ads, and the establishment acknowledgment that McConnell is vulnerable are adding up to serious buzz in both Kentucky and DC. Of course, this is really all about Iraq. McConnell is tied to Bush and the occupation, and the situation is getting worse.

I'm told that Democratic Senators are more confident this time, and that should be obvious as GOP Senators break ranks, at least rhetorically. We'll see. Hopefully, we'll see more of this - pressure on McConnell, moves to end the occupation, and a validation of the strategies of liberal allies in Congress like George Miller.