Though I'm loathe to quote him,
Pat Buchanan rightly point out the challenge for the left.
While President Bush and his War Cabinet bear full moral responsibility for Iraq, they could not have taken us to war without the complicity of the "adversary press" and "loyal opposition."
Today, this town is salivating over the prospect that Karl Rove and "Scooter" Libby will be indicted for outing Joe Wilson's wife as a CIA operative. Thirty months ago, many of those anxious to see the White House brought down were hauling its water.
While Buchanan points out the problem, Dean points the Dems toward the solution.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean says the so-called "leakgate" case is really about President Bush's "dishonesty over the Iraq question."
more on the flip...
Despite protests by the likes of Cindy Sheehan and other anti-war groups,
Hillary Clinton isn't taking the bait.
"The candidate who emerges to challenge Hillary in the primaries will almost certainly use the war as an issue to oppose her or to at least differentiate themselves from her," predicted a former adviser to several recent presidential candidates.
Dick Morris, the self-anointed king of the Hillary haters, thinks Iraq may be Clinton's biggest hurdle if she runs in 2008, telling Fox News, "her right foot is nailed to the floor in having to defend the Iraq war."
Clinton's political team doesn't think Iraq will seriously damage her chances if she chooses to run in 2008, largely because her anguish over the conflict is shared by a majority of Americans.
Still, they privately worry the war could pose problems, especially if her husband's former vice president, Al Gore, who opposed intervention from the start, jumps into the presidential race.
"When you take a principled stand, these are the risks you run," a Clinton insider said. "She is doing what she's thinks is right and letting the chips fall where they may."
And on Meet the Press yesterday, Chuck Schumer also refused to reconsider his war-voting ways.
As I see it, there is a golden opportunity looming for the democrats, one that could reasonably wipe the slate a little cleaner for those that voted for the Iraq war. With the impending indictments, the country will once again be focused on the run-up to the war and the lies that got us there. But will democrats, particulary those seeking an '08 nomination, grow the political spine necessary to come out against the war they voted for?
Like the rest of you, I'll be holding my breath. But not for too long....