If Bush were to start withdrawing troops while his "conservative" base was still chanting "stay the course" and "surrender monkeys," that wouldn't go down well. So with pullout plans slated for spring, in advance of the midterm elections, is there an effort to make a withdrawal more acceptable to the base?
A few days ago, O'Reilly had a program where he and his two guests all agreed that Iraq was going very badly. Conservative opinion makers in general seem more willing to state what has been true for years: this is a big Mess o' Potamia. Am I the only one noticing strange noises coming from the right?
If there is such a strategy, it seems to be working. Bush's Iraq approval just plummeted again, to 34%. That's the base abandoning Bush on their most important issue.