Dems Win and Lose at the Same Time

The House Dems managed to bribe enough members to vote for the Iraq supplemental bill that includes a timetable for withdrawal:

WASHINGTON (AP) - A sharply divided House voted Friday to order President Bush to bring combat troops home from Iraq next year, a victory for Democrats in an epic war-powers struggle and Congress' boldest challenge yet to the administration's policy.

Ignoring a White House veto threat, lawmakers voted 218-212, mostly along party lines, for a binding war spending bill requiring that combat operations cease before September 2008, or earlier if the Iraqi government does not meet certain requirements. Democrats said it was time to heed the mandate of their election sweep last November, which gave them control of Congress.

While Pelosi might claim a victory in the House, she undoubtedly lost with the anti-war base of the party which was vehemently against any additional funding for the war. I think the Dems will pay a big price for this vote, both from moderates who are not impressed with cut-and-run, and the wacky left which wanted cut-and-run immediately.

The San Diego Union-Tribune summed up the House Dems pretty well:

"Weeks ago, [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi proposed attaching a requirement that U.S. troops come home from Iraq before September 2008 to an emergency $100 billion military appropriations bill. When it became apparent she didn't have enough votes, she responded by adding $24 billion in pork, often in the form of agricultural subsidies used to win over rural Democratic lawmakers who tend to be more deferential on war policy. This is disgusting. That Pelosi insists this extra spending doesn't qualify as pork is bad enough. But the idea that taxpayer funds are being doled out by the multibillion for unrelated domestic programs to influence a profoundly important vote on Iraq should offend everyone. What does it say for the dozens of House members that this tactic apparently swayed? That on any issue, there is a price at which their convictions are for sale?" -- editorial in the San Diego Union-Tribune.