Interview with Our Man Russ™

Key quote:

We were way ahead on domestic issues, but the Democratic Party and Democratic leaders decided to take a pass on the Iraq war.  They decided to defer to the President, and I have to tell you many Democratic leaders knew better.  This was a bad idea, but they allowed the Bush administration to brilliantly intimidate them into not standing up and saying this doesn't fit in with the fight against Al Qaeda and the terrorists that attacked this country on 9/11.  Of course, I didn't buy into this and I voted no, but I was even in the minority among Democrats in the Senate.  And now were making the same mistake, now that it's clear that the administration took us into Iraq under false premises.  We have a situation where they are doing a terrible job managing this war.  They are doing a terrible job of having a plan to win the war and win the peace.  Yet, Democrats are allowing the President to set the terms of the debate.  If somebody says "what about a plan to bring the troops home", the President labels it cut and run.  Democrats have become silent, so I do think perhaps that we have allowed this to become a taboo.  My purpose this week is to break that taboo, let other Democrats know it's safe to go in the water.  It's safe to talk about how we can succeed and bring our troops home.  Why shouldn't we Democrats be talking about that?

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