[Mb-civic] Democrats still fear dissent on Iraq - Joan Vennochi - Boston Globe

[William Swiggard]

Democrats still fear dissent on Iraq

By Joan Vennochi, Globe Columnist  |  September 25, 2005

AGAINST SUPREME Court nominee John Roberts. For the war in Iraq. How 
long can Democrats like Hillary Clinton walk that political line?

Fearful of the peacenik label, Democrats are still reluctant to 
challenge President Bush on Iraq, no matter how ugly the news from 
Baghdad. Opposing Roberts is much easier. It shows that when it comes to 
social issues like abortion, left-leaning interest groups still hold 
sway with Democrats who would be president.

The antiwar left is a different story. It's the third rail Democrats 
fear to touch. The junior senator from New York also has the ''woman 
problem." No female presidential candidate wants to sound like antiwar 
mom Cindy Sheehan.

This week, Clinton and Senate minority leader Harry Reid of Nevada did 
meet with Sheehan in Washington. But to Tom Andrews, a former 
congressman from Maine who is national director of ''Win Without War," 
the antiwar group associated with Sheehan, the session represents bare 
courtesy from Clinton and Reid. ''What are they going to do?" he asks. 
''Pull a George Bush? I don't think anyone in Congress was thrilled with 
the idea of a Camp Casey encampment in front of their offices."

Post 9/11, the perception of weakness on defense is considered poison. 
That thinking led to John Kerry's tortured ''for and against" the war 
position during the 2004 presidential election. Now, dissatisfaction 
with the war is growing, with registered Democrats the most 
dissatisfied. A recent CBS News poll showed that 85 percent of 
registered Democrats disapprove of Bush's handling of Iraq; 50 percent 
support withdrawal of all troops.

But on Iraq, a big disconnect exists between what registered Democrats 
believe about the war and what elected Democratic officials and alleged 
party leaders like Howard Dean are willing to do. Only two Democratic 
officeholders -- Representatives John Conyers of Michigan and Cynthia 
McKinney of Georgia -- planned to be anywhere near the antiwar rally 
scheduled this weekend in Washington.

Forget about standing up alongside Michael Moore. Merely speaking up 
against the war in Iraq continues to terrify Democrats. One exception is 
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who voted against Roberts and is also a 
strong, consistent Democratic voice against Iraq. But Kennedy is not 
running for president.

Democratic senators who are in the presidential contender mix, such as 
Clinton, Kerry, and Joseph Biden of Delaware, have yet to label their 
votes to authorize war a mistake, even though the underlying rationale 
-- weapons of mass destruction -- was long ago revealed as false. Given 
the reluctance to admit mistakes in Washington, they probably never 
will. These Democrats, meanwhile, continue to tailor their opposition to 
the way the war is being waged, not to its underlying purpose or morality.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/09/25/democrats_still_fear_dissent_on_iraq/
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