WASHINGTON — Democrats, unable to use their congressional majority to force an end to the Iraq war, see Senate hearings with the top U.S. commander and upcoming votes as a new opportunity to turn the war into an election-year hammer against Republicans.
Swept into power in a wave of public distaste for the drawn-out conflict, Democratic leaders find themselves preparing to face voters in November with nothing to show for their repeated efforts to compel a U.S. troop withdrawal or slap conditions on military deployments.
That leaves them scrambling for ways to draw distinctions between themselves and the GOP on Iraq and to show they are committed to ending the war, even as they resign themselves to the fact that they lack the votes to do so.
“That’s what this presidential race is about,” said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.
Complicating Democrats’ task is evidence that President Bush’s unpopular troop buildup has helped secure key areas of Iraq and slow the pace of U.S. deaths.
With the economy eclipsing the war as voters’ top worry, Democrats are putting more emphasis on the domestic and military side effects of the Iraq conflict, such as neglecting infrastructure investments at home, overstretching the military and losing sight of the al-Qaeda threat.
In a memo circulated recently among Democratic senators, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., the Foreign Relations Committee chairman, said Democrats needed to avoid “getting into a defensive crouch” on Iraq.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., circulated a fact sheet outlining domestic needs — border security, student loans and health care for the uninsured — that could be met with the $339 million per day that congressional researchers say is being spent on the war.
“Every day that we are spending millions in Iraq means missed opportunities to invest in critical priorities here at home,” her summary said.
“If the Congress doesn’t hold the president accountable, voters can hold Congress accountable,” said former Democratic Rep. Tom Andrews, director of the anti-war group Win Without War.
Republicans charge that the Democrats’ new tack on the war is a tacit acknowledgment they lack the votes to force a change.
Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., his party’s No. 2 official in the Senate, said he resents Democrats’ attempts to tie the nation’s economic woes to the war.
“It’s a blackmail, using our troops and their requirements as a hostage to Democrats’ desire to spend more money on their favorite projects,” he said.
