We shouldn't allow them to divide and conquer

[win_in_06]

In Kerry's speech yesterday he said he disagreed with Murtha. Nancy Pelosi made a statement endorsing Murtha's plan. Hillary stands behind her vote. Edwards says he was wrong.

I wish we would just get our ducks in a row before we go on the attack next year.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

1. It would be good to have a cohesive message.

[oneold1-4u]

3. "to have a cohesive message"

If, and this should be the plan immediately, Dems. must stop looking at many of the old hands and begin selecting some that will LEAD, and create cohesiveness of the whole party! The party has lost too much for being split into far to many factions. There cannot be a choice of one who speaks out on one side for something, and then the other side for another. The best to take this country back will be the honest voice for all!

[TallahasseeGrannie]

4. Bravo! Well said!

[win_in_06]

8. I also think the primary messenger should be someone other than Kerry

Otherwise it seems like the campaign is being run over again.

[Mass]

14. Go straight to the goal - That will be more honest.\nt

[welshTerrier2]

2. Dems have no choice

if we don't get a unified message soon, you can write off taking back the House or the Senate next year ... Iraq is going to be THE ISSUE and a party with a "big tent", all-over-the-highway message will not provide the American people with the clarity of vision they're seeking ...

having said that, the ONLY path to unity is for the Dems to rally behind Murtha's plan or something very close to it ... other plans that were offered fell on deaf ears; that's hardly the stuff effective political campaigns are made of ...

Nancy Pelosi said yesterday she is now supporting Murtha's resolution and that she believes a majority of House Dems support it as well ... Pelosi said that the Senate has lagged behind the House on this issue ...

In a press conference yesterday, Murtha himself said that none of the other plans for Iraq makes any sense ...

The main difference between the Dem House and the Dem Senate is a HUGE difference ... Dems in the Senate continue to call for "success-based solutions" ... they believe we should invest another year trying to achieve something positive ... and they believe troops could be phased down as each "benchmark" is achieved ... these plans are 100% contingent on achieving these yet-to-be-defined benchmarks ...

The House, on the other hand, has seen enough ... they no longer believe continued occupation can achieve anything ... they understand that with bush in charge, there is no hope for anything positive occurring while the US occupation continues ... House Dems are ready to start leaving today ... Murtha's plan calls for the withdrawal to be completed within 6 months ...

Again, the only path to unity is for the Dems to call for a near-term withdrawal beginning immediately ... if Senate Dems dig in and try to convey a "we have the responsible, middle-of-the-road position", there will be no unity and there will be no significant victory at the polls next year ... where a year ago, it was the anti-war movement dividing the Party, times have changed ... the American people are done with Iraq; it's over ... they now see the realities all too clearly ... if Senate Dems don't move behind a Murtha-like plan, it is they who will block the path to Party unity and electoral success ...

[oneold1-4u]

5. "benchmark"

If the democrats cannot be the origins of a benchmark in this war, then the nation must know that the PEOPLE will be, or it will just happen about August and the republicans will lay claim to it. That would give them back a huge edge with the "stupid millions"!
Of course if God showed them how, that would count a few million more!

[welshTerrier2]

6. i don't think the American people are stupid

in spite of all the media lies and distortions and the peddling of neo-con propaganda, the American people are now strongly opposed to this war ... they are far ahead of most elected Democrats ...

i agree with your statement that the republicans will toss in some token withdrawals right before the election ... they'll campaign on a "see, things are going so well now in Iraq that we're able to start drawing down our forces" ... plans from the Senate Dems will be to the hawkish right of what the republicans will be selling next year ...

it's inconceivable that republicans could actually benefit from Iraq during the midterms, and yet, if the Senate Dems won't move, that's exactly what will happen ...

[sandnsea]

11. Then stop pushing that shit

Focus on beginning drawdown after the December vote and continue turning the country over and bringing troops HOME. Whether we can continue with Murtha's 6 months, or whether Kerry's plan works better, will become evident in short order. The important thing is to "go in the same direction". And that's a process that ends the war and you end the war quickest with a stable and successful turnover. That's what John Kerry is saying and that's the only thing that make sense. Murtha doesn't like it because he wants to STAY IN THE REGION. Kerry doesn't. You have got to read beyond the headlines.

[Al-CIAda]

7. Spot on...the worthless 'dems' had better get their shit in gear.

This is why they are seen as weak and unorganized....because they ARE.

[sandnsea]

9. Who's doing the dividing?

Kerry said we're all going in the same direction. Pelosi said the Senate speaks for itself. Edwards and Kerry have both said their vote was wrong, maybe Murtha has as well. That all works just fine together if WE focus on the common points and don't chop it up OURSELVES.

Hillary has joined Joe on the homentum trail. Buh bye Hil.

[win_in_06]

10. Bush, Rove et al are trying to with the "cut and run" talk

[sandnsea]

12. Don't change the subject

YOUR post was full of divisive bullshit. That's the biggest problem the party faces, not any shit that Bush is peddling.

[win_in_06]

13. I didn't change the subject. I answered your question directly.

We have prominent dems who have different approaches to the war problem and the repugs are attempting to exploit that.

It is a valid concern.

[sandnsea]

15. So don't let them

They'd say cut and run no matter what we were saying. What's that got to do with YOUR post that chose to highlight concocted differences instead of similarities. YOU chose to do that, unless you're working for Bushco??

[win_in_06]

16. Evaluate yourself first.

Perhaps you are unwittlingly aiding Bushco by choosing to ignore the obvious.

[sandnsea]

18. The eat our own plan has worked so well

You chose to exploit nonsensical differences that don't add up to anything except sound byte bullshit. This crap is coming from within the Democratic Party, not from the right.

[win_in_06]

20. I think it is better to resolve from within prior to 06 in order to

win big next year.

[sandnsea]

23. "We're all going in the same direction"

It's resolved. We're all moving towards disengagement, Iraqi sovereignity and bringing our troops home.

[blm]

19. and you are pretending it's Kerry v Murtha when they BOTH laid out plans

for withdrawal that share common ground as Kerry stressed yesterday.

It should be DEMOCRATIC withdrawal plans versus Bush's nonplans.

YOU are dividing when you present it as if Kerry only disagreed with Murtha, without any CONTEXT to what was said.

[win_in_06]

21. Not my intent. Would just like to see a unified message.

[blm]

22. Then why don't you know that Tom Hayden and Gary Hart are both supporting

Kerry's withdrawal plan? He submitted it last October - did you call for unity then?

Zogby said the other day that the WH and the media are deliberately ignoring Kerry's plan while they continue to define Murtha's plan as cut and run.

WHO is doing the dividing?

Kerry gave the best defense of Murtha that any Democrat has ever given another Democrat. Be glad he put himself in place on those shows that day in order to defend Murtha from the inevitable attacks they knew were coming.

[blm]

17. Kerry stressed that he and Murtha SHARE COMMON GOALS - Kerry had his own

plan submitted 3 weeks before Murtha.

Was Kerry suppose to abandon his plan even though he worked months on it?

Do you even LNOW what the two plans are and how they differ and where they meet?