Republicans Deserting Bush Over Iraq Policies

Howard Fineman What Will Iraq Cost Bush?

Hilary served on the Andover board with Barbara Bush and was finance chair of Bush’s primary campaign in New Hampshire in 1980. She organized locally for George W. in 2000. But the other day, upset over the war in Iraq, she left the Republican Party, changing her registration to “undeclared” so she could vote for Dr. Howard Dean in the Democratic primary in January. “You don’t go to war without valid reason,” she said, “or international support.” Bush’s call for $87 billion in new spending on Iraq offended her Yankee sense of thrift: “I believe in fiscal integrity and balanced budgets, and spending so much doesn’t seem sound.”

Though there is no love lost between Bush and McCain—the residue of the brutal nomination race—the senator has been a dutiful soldier.

Until now. In a NEWSWEEK interview, McCain for the first time compared the situation in Iraq to Vietnam, where he survived six years of wartime imprisonment, and began openly distancing himself from Bush’s war strategy.

“This is the first time that I have seen a parallel to Vietnam,” McCain declared, “in terms of information that the administration is putting out versus the actual situation on the ground. I’m not saying the situation in Iraq now is as bad as Vietnam. But we have a problem in the Sunni Triangle and we should face up to it and tell the American people about it.” Also reminiscent of Vietnam, McCain said, was the administration’s reluctance to deploy forces with the urgency required for the quickest victory. “I think we can be OK, but time is not on our side... If we don’t succeed more rapidly, the challenges grow greater.”

Here is Fineman's Culture War column which Krugman correctly points out is mislabeled.

EL - It is now a Religious War that the White House will wage for 2004.

These religious issues: anti-abortion, anti-right-to-die, pro-Israel (and Sharon), anti-Muslim, anti-gays, pro God and prayer back in public life and schools, funneling money to churches, church school vouchers, are the domestic and even foreign issues that Rove is eager to raise. Evangelicals are over 40% of Bush's base and he wants them out in force. On close elections you turn out you base and they know this is going to be another 50-50 race.

"If it sounds like a Holy War at home it is, and the Bushes are hoping that red is the color not just of blood but of victory. "