Dick Morris: Dems to split, thanks to far left
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/index.php?idX1647.html
The Coming Democratic Party Civil War By Dick Morris and Eileen McGann
Iraq is not the only place that is threatening to dissolve into the
anarchy and bloodletting of a civil war. It’s about to happen to the
Democratic Party. Reacting to Bush’s planned “surge” in troop
strength, the Democratic leaders in Congress, savoring their victory,
are contemplating taking only symbolic steps to protest Bush’s war
policies, a timidity that will highly displease their leftist
boosters. The liberal activists who funded and impelled the
Democratic victory in 2006 did not focus on winning a Congressional
majority so that it would take merely symbolic action. Symbolic
action would have been appropriate for a minority party, but the
backers of a party in the majority expect something more.
So the Democrats are about to form their customary firing squad – a
circular one – and begin again the battles that ripped their party
apart in the late 1960s. The battle lines are the same: The New Left
vs. The Party Establishment. Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid
are about to squander their credibility with their supporters on the
left by failing to cut back – or cut off entirely – funding for the war.
The Democratic Party’s left wing is not to be trifled with. It is a
massive force, fully mobilized, and led by aggressive online
organizations such as Moveon.org. It has plenty of political leaders
– like Ted Kennedy and John Kerry – who are more than willing to
articulate fundamental differences with the Party’s Congressional
leadership and are not shy about doing so.
The Congressional leaders’ plan is to give Bush all the rope he needs
to hang himself by increasing troop strength in Iraq. They are deeply
skeptical about whether more soldiers will accomplish anything
besides increasing casualties. But they are not about to take the rap
in front of the American people for seeming to sell out our troops by
cutting their funding and forcing the Administration to retreat. Nor
are they ready for a constitutional confrontation with the Commander-
in-Chief over his wartime powers. So, instead, they are going to hold
hearings during which a parade of former generals will voice their
misgivings and air their disagreements, past and present. It will be
like one of Bob Woodward’s books enacted on a Congressional stage.
But this theater is not going to appease the left. They did not elect
Democrats to Congress so they could hold hearings. They expect laws
not shows. Their frustration will become increasingly apparent as the
Cindy Sheehans of the world react to the increased troop commitment
in Baghdad. The left will launch campaigns of civil disobedience,
public marches and protests, online petitions, and the like. It will
be the 1960s all over again.
As long as the Democratic Party could be counted upon to represent
the left on Iraq, protests against the war were channeled through the
political process and were aimed at electing a Democratic Congress.
But now that the Democratic leadership has, in the eyes of the
leaders of the left, “betrayed” them, look for protest to overflow
the bounds of partisan politics and go into the streets.
One can expect candidates in the Democratic primaries to run to the
left seeking to capitalize on the frustration of peace activists at
the passivity of the Party’s Congressional leaders in the face of
Bush’s determination to add to troop strength committed to Iraq.
Moderate candidates like Barak Obama, John Edwards, and even Hillary
Clinton may find themselves outflanked by those more willing to run
to the left like Al Gore and John Kerry.
Until now, we have had a two-party system in our post 9-11 debates.
Now a new entrant is in the field: The New Left.
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Dick Morris is a
political strategist and commentator for Fox News Channel, author of
several books about American politics, and writes a regular column
for the “New York Post”, “The Hill”, and the “National Post” in Canada.
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Eileen McGann is an
attorney and co-author of several books, including the recent “Condi
v. Hillary”.