Chris Bowers: Democrats Grossly Misinformed On Candidate Plans For Iraq

[pretty_lies]

Only about 1 in 10 Democrats are aware of what Clinton, Obama, Edwards and Richardson's policies are on Iraq, the most critical issue with voters today. Most Democrats think that the candidates support ending the war much more than they actually are.

The result of this ignorance is likely to be an LBJ-style backlash against the Democrats if they are elected and enact their more hawkish Iraq policies, to the surprise of the people who voted for them.

From an excellent entry by Chris Bowers at http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1177

Here are the results of a poll in July that asked the question:

"For each person or organization, please tell me which of the following four choices comes closest to what you think their view is on what the U.S. should do in Iraq?"

Here are the answers for the different choices:



Bowers goes on to say

Unless something changes in the next few months, voters will be in for a rude awakening when they
find out that virtually every candidate for President with a real chance of becoming the nominee of either major party, save possibly Edwards and definitely save Richardson, are way more hawkish on Iraq than they are believed to be.

Democratic voters might be in for a particularly rude awakening in the general election, or at least some point in 2009, when they find out the candidate they nominated is actually in favor of keeping a substantial number of troops in Iraq.

...

However, if Democrats end up nominating a candidate who supports a substantial residual forces plan while thinking that candidate will actually withdraw virtually all troops in a short period of time, then basically our party will have been hoodwinked in a manner not unlike the way the war was first sold to the American public back in 2002 and 2003.

While that will be incredibly depressing and infuriating, it also won’t be that much of a huge surprise.

After all, most of the Democratic foreign policy elite behind the substantial residual forces plan actually helped sell the Iraq war before it began.

[sandnsea]

1. well he doesn't know either

which doesn't surprise me because he never told the truth about Kerry either. Obama's plan is to begin immediate withdrawal, pulling out all combat brigades, and leave 10 support brigades, about 35,000. No, it isn't full withdrawal, but only Richardson and Kucinich are calling for all troops to be removed.

The netroots put on partisan blinders just as much as any msm reporter does.

[FrenchieCat]

2. Bowers is full of shit

he doesn't really know what anyone will do about Iraq....obviously--"Edwards actually supports a combination of 2, 3 and 4" my ass. They all support a combination of 2, 3 & 4....doh! :crazy:

Bowers must be on the Edwards campaign payroll already. :eyes:

[w4rma]

3. You think everyone who doesn't attack Edwards is on the Edwards payroll, Frenchie. (nt)

[FrenchieCat]

5. Chris is certainly acting irresponsively biased then......

In February 2007, Bowers stated "I have a pretty vicious rant and an important action alert lined up, but I am waiting to hear from the Edwards camp..."<1> about the controversy over bloggers Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwen, recently hired by John Edwards. When Edwards announced he would not fire the bloggers, Bowers announced he considered the event significant enough to tip him into support Edwards in the 2008 Democratic Presidential primary
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Bowers

Of course the Bloggers left Edwards' employ shortly thereafter, but Bowers supports Edwards still, and is evidently shilling for his chosen candidate by "informing" Democrats that they are "misinformed" about the various Iraq plans offered via this blog post. Chris Bowers then proceeds to misinform them some more! That's a sad state of blogging if you ask me. :shrug:

[rinsd]

6. He's been supportive of Edwards but I don't think he is being paid for it (nt)

[Mass]

4. Well, Chris Bowers is grossly uninformed as well

Both Obama supports a mix of 1, 2, and 3 as well, and Clinton a mix of 2 and 3, that is: if you can support policies that are imcompatible.

[maximusveritas]

7. Bowers really set himself up on this one

Before accusing others of being misinformed, it's important to make sure you're informed. I can't believe anyone takes this guy seriously.

[Debi]

8. Bowers is grossly uninformed

More people than Clinton, Edwards, Obama and Richardson are running for President. And there are other candidates out there with plans for Iraq.