|
I suspect Hillary will vote yes. That will deflate what remaining patience Democratic primary voters have for her. And even if she votes no, Democratic primary voters will not be suddenly enamored with her. But say she then gets the nomination. A no vote by Hillary is Karl Rove's wet dream; you can already see and hear the 30 second ads with clips of her tortured explanations as to why she voted for the appropriation before she voted against it.
Obama has made statements in the past saying that he will "fund the troops" even without any conditions in the bill. That will alienate many of his base of supporters and expose him to fair criticism that his vote is at odds with his stated position, and at odds with his efforts to position himself as the anti-war alternative to Hillary.
Edwards has staked out a position against the bill, clear and crisp. He has admitted that his yes vote in 2002 was a mistake, without tortured explanations, conditions or hypotheticals. Keep in mind, even George McGovern voted for the Tonkin Gulf Resolution in 1964. This is Edwards' opportunity to inject momentum into his campaign and distinguish himself from Hillary (who seems to be already running a general election campaign as if she is the inevitable nominee) and Obama (who is not ready for prime time and makes constant rookie mistakes).
Kucinich and Dodd will vote no, but they are--and I don't mean to be rude here--not heavyweight candidates.
|