Murtha's Reality Check

The public is more split on Iraq but is inclined to agree with Murtha. According to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll taken last week, 19 percent said the troops should be brought home immediately, and 33 percent said within a year -- that's 52 percent who want the troops brought home sometime in the next year. Only 38 percent said the troops should remain "as long as needed."

Murtha's leadership and public opinion surveys have done little strengthen the resolve of many of the party's leaders, who still can't quite figure out where they stand on the issue of extricating the U.S. from the mess in Iraq.

Sean Spicer, spokesman for the House Republican Conference, argued that Democrats will pay a political price for their inability to offer a viable alternative to the president's vision.

"Murtha stood up and took a principled stand -- albeit a stand we disagree with," Spicer said. "And his own party ran away from him. They basically threw him under the bus and walked away. Not only do [the Democrats] not have an agenda, they walked away from the one guy who does."

Last week, House Republicans pulled a shrewd political move and tried to force Democrats to go on the record in support of Murtha. The strategy was aimed at turning the debate away from how the United States got in the war, which could be damaging to Republicans, to what to do now, which Republicans have at least a chance of winning.

The challenge for Democrats is to avoid being pushed into the corner by GOP efforts to portray the party as weak on terrorism. All the more reason why it will soon be necessary for the party to come up with a unified front on Iraq.

Republicans have their own pitfalls. Apparently recognizing that last week's rhetoric -- comparing Murtha to Michael Moore, as the White House did, and likening him to a coward, as one House member from Ohio did -- is dangerous. Only 35 percent of Americans approve of Bush's handling of the war, and 54 percent believe the war was a mistake, according to the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll.

Given that, and the fact that only 38 percent of Americans want an open-ended commitment, it will be difficult for the GOP to sustain the accusation that Democrats want to "cut and run" from Iraq.

This week, the Bush administration sent conflicting messages. President Bush signaled a softer tone, saying people should feel comfortable disagreeing with the war. On the other hand, Cheney called Murtha a "patriot" but suggested that the administration's Iraq critics were guilty of "revisionism of the most corrupt and shameless variety."

Murtha's comments last week were a thunderclap. And Republicans and Democrats alike realize the real debate has shifted in a fundamental way. As the midterms near, will Murtha be joined by other leaders from both parties to develop an Iraq policy that the American public will support?