Recent
news that Newt Gingrich is calling for withdrawal from Iraq, no matter how self-serving and hypocritical, is unqualified good news for the Democratic Party.
Yes, I know that many Dems and others are freaking out about how this will further weaken the Democratic Party and our chances in 2006 and 2008 elections (Isn't this typical, by the way, both inside the beltway and in blogistan?). Heaven forbid a Republican 2008 presidential contender advocate withdrawal from Iraq before many prominent Democrats have. Oh, no - maybe the Republicans will seize the anti-Iraq war momentum and ride it all the way to victory in 2006 and 2008! Come on, guys...
What Gingrich's move really does is open a new division in the Republican Party, already turning on itself on immigration and other issues. Not only that, but Newt is nicely positioning himself as the maverick of the 2008 Republican presidential roster. How many votes will he pull from John McCain over the Iraq issue? If John McCain is to have any chance against less controversial establishment candidates like George Allen, he's going to need those maverick voters. With an anti-Iraq Newt in the race, he's going to have to fight for New Hampshire - a state that he would've had locked up otherwise.
If nothing else, Newt's "conversion" is bad news for John McCain's presidential ambitions. With McCain being the Republican nominee that Dems really need to worry about, all Dems should be celebrating. Even if we can't exploit the Republicans' newfound division over Iraq with a unified Democratic position for withdrawal, this is good news for Democrats.
Take the 2008 New Hampshire Republican craziness poll!
