WASHINGTON -- Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman is under fire.þþFacing a difficult re-election fight next year after eking out a slim victory in 2002, Coleman, a Republican, finds himself besieged by Democrats and anti-war groups for not supporting a firm deadline to withdraw American troops from Iraq.þþÿThe situation isn't improving,ÿ intones the latest television ad, this one from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. ÿBut instead of doing the right thing, Sen. Norm Coleman just gives us more of the same.ÿþþColeman is one of about a dozen Republicans in the spotlight as the Senate debates what to do about the United States' involvement in Iraq.þþThe Democratic strategy, since the start of this year, has been to keep putting pressure on Republicans, forcing them to face difficult votes as they answer to constituents who are increasingly restive about the war. The hope, Democratic leaders said, is that GOP lawmakers eventually will abandon President Bush and support Democratic calls to end the war.þþNevertheless, Coleman is unbowed by the pressure, resisting the increasingly popular push for firm deadlines to withdraw the troops even as some of his Republican colleagues break with the president.þþÿThose commercials are about getting press. I don't think they have much impact in changing public opinion,ÿ he said. ÿMinnesotans are smarter than that.ÿþþPolitical marketplaceþþStill, the Senate has become something of a bazaar as lawmakers shop around various proposals to draw down troop levels, withdraw completely or adhere to the recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group as the nation's policy.þþÿSomebody up for re-election in 2008 simply cannot tell the voters 'I'm agnostic, I don't have a position,'ÿ said Ross Baker, an expert on Congress at Rutgers University. ÿYou've got to be able to say, 'I'm for something.'ÿþþSen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), for example, is embracing several proposals, but not the primary Democratic amendment calling for troops to begin withdrawing within 120 days.þþShe faces a serious challenge for re-election and is the target of television ads similar to those Coleman is facing. Collins is critical of Bush's ÿsurgeÿ policy -- which entails boosting the number of troops in Baghdad and in Anbar province while pushing Iraqis to reach certain goals toward reconciliation -- even if she is unwilling to back calls for a withdrawal.þþÿWe've actually eased pressure on the [Nouri] al-Maliki government and made it less likely reform will happen,ÿ she said.þþSen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) will be running for re-election in a state that threw out Republican incumbents at the local, state and national levels last year. But he thinks the Democratic push for a firm withdrawal date is a terrible idea.þþÿI do not think it is good national security policy to announce to your enemies the day you are going to begin withdrawing troops and the day you are going to complete withdrawing troops,ÿ he said in an interview.þþLast year, Sununu began publicly touting the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group as an important guide to addressing security, diplomatic and political efforts there.þþNow he is one of a dozen senators co-sponsoring an amendment that would make the recommendations the basis for U.S. strategy. Among the suggestions: a withdrawal of most combat troops from Iraq by early 2008.þþ'Campaigns and commercials'þþÿToo many people have approached this thinking of campaigns and commercials,ÿ Sununu said. ÿIf you can't vote your conscience on an issue as important as Iraq, then you're not serving your state or your country well.ÿþþPolitically, however, Sununu, Collins and Coleman are all in the cross hairs as public opinion has increasingly soured on the war.þþAmy Walter, editor in chief of The Hotline, a non-partisan observer of daily politics, said the Iraq debate has been a boon to Democratic challengers, who have been able to raise huge amounts of money. In the second quarter alone, challengers raised unprecedented sums, ranging from $700,000 to $2 million.þþBut there are no clear answers for how the Republican senators should proceed.þþÿIf you are one of these senators, you look to 2006 and you say that distancing yourself from the president wasn't enough to save a number of Republican candidates,ÿ Walter said. ÿI think you look at it and say, 'Tell me what good is it going to do for my election to try and distance myself from the president when there's no guarantee that that is going to make voters see me in a better light.'ÿþþThe political problem, she said, won't go away by changing positions.þþÿIf you vote against the president now, you will still be attacked as a Bush supporter and you'll be tied to Bush no matter what you do,ÿ Walter said.þþEven so, other Republicans are making the break, frustrated that the administration's plan to boost troop levels in Iraq has yielded little benefit.þþÿThis was their strategy that they have failed to fulfill,ÿ said Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine). ÿWe're at the crossroads of hope and reality and now we have to grapple with reality.ÿþþDemocrats, however, will need the help of 10 to 12 Republicans to impose a firm deadline for withdrawing the troops. That's because most contentiously debated legislation requires proponents to reach a threshold of 60 votes. And many Republicans say they don't And many Republicans say they don't want to take that step without hearing a report from Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, in September.þþÿIf there aren?t 60 votes [now], I can assure you there will be in September,ÿ Snowe said.þ
Source: Chicago Tribune
