Republican and Conservative political analysis and commentary

USNews.com has an extensive post on how the Bush administration and Republican hawks have regained the political momentum on the Iraq war issue, now that it is evident to the American public - and to a growing number of Democratic lawmakers - that the military "surge" is proving to be a tactical success.

As the Washington Post says this morning, "Democratic leaders in Congress had planned to use August recess to raise the heat on Republicans to break with...Bush on the Iraq war." Instead, "Democrats have been forced to recalibrate their own message in the face of recent positive signs on the security front, increasingly focusing their criticisms on what those military gains have not achieved: reconciliation among Iraq's diverse political factions." Republican leaders and Administration officials are looking on with interest at the newly found Democratic support for the troop surge. A GOP congressional aide tells the Political Bulletin, "We think it is interesting to hear Democrats reluctantly admitting that the surge has been a tactical success. It's fascinating considering the ride they've been on since January and that all Democrats in Congress voted to condemn the surge in one form or fashion." Republicans are speculating that with the recent drop in blockbuster attacks and American troop deaths in Iraq, the Democrats are a bit concerned that pushing for an immediate withdrawal might appear defeatist. 

Really? You mean Americans might think quitting a fight that's winnable is "defeatist"? I'm shocked.

But that's why the "withdrawal at any cost" Democrats like Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are having to back away from their insistent calls for immediate withdrawal from Iraq - i.e. choosing defeat - now that it's obvious that we're winning and the American public's support for the war is once again rising.

The Democrats' political strategy based on opposition to the war was a risky strategy from the start, given that the military as an institution garners far more support from the American people than the Democrats or even the entire Congress does.

I have long believed that declining public support for the Iraq war was not declining support for the war in concept, but declining support for the war
as it was being fought,given that after four years it wasn't clear we were making progress. Americans don't like to continue wars in which victory is not viewed as possible or likely, but the larger factor is that Americans don't like to lose. Reid and the rest of the withdrawal-at-any-cost Democrats forgot that part of the American psyche.

Give Americans a winner - as President Bush and Gen. David Petreaus are now doing - and they'll support it.

More from U.S. News:

Also suggesting a potential momentum change, the Washington Post reports on "an advertising blitz from Bush supporters determined to remain on offense. A new pressure group, Freedom's Watch, will unveil a month-long, $15 million television, radio and grass-roots campaign today designed to shore up support for Bush's policies before the commander of US forces in Iraq, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, lays out a White House assessment of the war's progress." Ari Fleischer, the former Bush White House press secretary who is "helping to head Freedom's Watch," said yesterday, "For people who believe in peace through strength, the cavalry is coming."

I saw one of those ads last night - a soldier who volunteered for a second tour in Iraq, and lost a leg there, imploring Americans to not back away from a winnable fight so that his sacrifice is not in vain.

Harry Reid and the Democrats were chomping at the bit to render in vain his sacrifice - and the sacrifice of thousands of young Americans - in the Iraq war. The good news: The surge is working. And the American people know it know.