The AP reports:
A top Democrat said Thursday he is preparing legislation that would give President Bush the war funding he wants this year, but on the condition that troops leave Iraq by the end of the year. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., chairman of the House defense appropriations subcommittee, said he'll propose that the House vote this March on the spending measure. In addition to the troop withdrawal, he said he'll ask for other conditions such as that all deploying troops must be fully trained and equipped. Similar bills scraped by on party line votes in the House last year only to fail in the Senate, where Democrats hold a more narrow margin of control and 60 votes are needed to overcome procedural hurdles. Murtha, speaking to reporters following a speech to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said he's confident this bill would pass the House, but he's not sure about the Senate.
Murtha has tried this before--under much more favorable conditions--and failed every time. But a year ago he could claim to be acting in the interests of voters, who had delivered Congress to a Democratic party running against the war. Not anymore. A lot has changed since then, and it's not at all clear that Americans want the complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. Of course, we'll find out come November, when voters will be asked whether they want to press on with the fight or call it quits. If this wasn't pure grandstanding on Murtha's part, one might wonder if the Dems would prefer to deny voters that choice.