Iraq differences blur among Democratic candidates (which could help HRC)

[draft_mario_cuomo]

I don't agree with everything in the article but I thought this was interesting and could lead a good discussion on the differences between the candidates' proposals for Iraq.

==Within the Senate chamber, however, the effort by Democrats to present a unified opposition to Bush's Iraq policy has also had the effect of blurring distinctions among the party's presidential candidates. That could end up benefiting Clinton, who has tried to negate criticism of her 2002 vote by arguing that differences among the Democratic candidates are not that great today.==

==The candidates said similar things, and in the end those three joined the other Democratic presidential hopeful in the Senate, Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, in voting to end the GOP filibuster. The effort failed in a 52-47 vote, short of the 60 needed to cut off debate under Senate rules.

That convergence among the Democratic presidential candidates was a far cry from just a few months ago, when Clinton opposed a withdrawal deadline and was heckled by party activists for it.==

==But Obama has modified his position as well: Not long ago, he backed a flexible withdrawal target rather than a mandatory deadline. He also voted against the war funding bill.

"There's not a dime's worth of difference between them," said John Isaacs, president of Council for a Livable World, an antiwar group.==

Read the rest at http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-wartrail19jul19,0,2537706.story?coll=la-home-center

[MannyGoldstein]

1. Huge Difference On The Most Important Votes Though n/t

[jillan]

2. Huge difference in their plans to get us out.

Those that have a plan,
and those that have a talking point.