Webloggin » Poll: Most Doubt Dems Have Plan For Iraq

The AP is finally reporting something that most of us already knew. Despite the fact that Democrats campaigned on the need for change in Iraq the reality is that the slogan came without a plan attached to it.

In the poll, more Americans ranked Iraq as the top priority of the new Democratic-controlled Congress, but nearly three out of five say the party has no plan to deal with the war.

While voters in Election Day surveys said corruption and scandal in Congress were among the most important factors in their vote, the post election poll indicated 37 percent of all adults said the war in Iraq should be at the top of the congressional agenda during the next two years. Nevertheless, 57 percent of all adults in the AP-Ipsos poll said Democrats do not have a plan for Iraq; 29 percent said they do.

That finding strikes at the heart of a Democratic dilemma. The party has been of one voice in criticizing President Bush’s strategy for the war but has been more equivocal on how to move in a different direction.

Democrats such as Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania want a fixed deadline to pull all troops out of the country. Other Democrats, including some party leaders, have voiced support for a staggered withdrawal that demands greater responsibility from the Iraqis.

The public’s perception was reinforced during the campaign, when President Bush repeatedly told voters that the Democrats had little to offer on the war.

Perhaps the AP is beginning to contemplate the results of their one sided reporting that helped Democrats sweep themselves back into power on November 7th. It is clear that the reporters are not content to rest the report on the results of this poll so they did what comes naturally; they held their own “separate interviews” with voters who are sympathetic to the Democrat dilemma. In other words they are circling the wagons in a preemptive strike in case the Democrats fail to deliver.

In separate interviews, some voters appeared sympathetic.

John Rodon, a retiree from Green Bay, Wis., said the situation in Iraq is “a big mistake” and voted for a Democrat for Congress. He doubted, however, that the Democrats would solve the war.

“I don’t think anybody has an answer for this,” he said.

Francis Curran, a 43-year-old carpenter from Jupiter, Fla., said he thinks Democrats would approach Iraq with a better lens.

“You can’t solve that problem without involving the other players in the region. I think Democrats might be more willing to at least not call (Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) the Axis of Evil,” Curran said. “I don’t know if the president would go with this, but this administration has to involve other nations in that region.”

You have to love examples that are sympathetic to Democrats that include steering clear of recognizing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as part of the Axis of Evil. That about sums up the plan in a nutshell.

Others on the Democrats Confused Plans:

Captains Quarters, Blue Crab Boulevard