'Far Left' Anti-War Dems Out of Touch?

It seems they're not.

CNN reports that a full 6 in 10 Americans now oppose President Bush's War in Iraq:

Sixty percent of Americans oppose the U.S. war in Iraq, the highest number since polling on the subject began with the commencement of the war in March 2003, according to poll results and trends released Wednesday.

And a majority of poll respondents said they would support the withdrawal of at least some U.S. troops by the end of the year, according to results from the Opinion Research Corporation poll conducted last week on behalf of CNN. The corporation polled 1,047 adult Americans by telephone.

According to trends, the number of poll respondents who said they did not support the Iraq war has steadily risen as the war stretched into a second and then a third year. In the most recent poll, 36 percent said they were in favor of the war -- half of the peak of 72 percent who said they were in favor of the war as it began.

Sixty-one percent, however, said they believed at least some U.S. troops should be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of the year. Of those, 26 percent said they would favor the withdrawal of all troops, while 35 percent said not all troops should be withdrawn. Another 34 percent said they believed the current level of troops in Iraq should be maintained.

Asked about a timetable for withdrawal of troops from Iraq, 57 percent of poll respondents said they supported the setting of such a timetable, while 40 percent did not and 4 percent had no opinion.

That's a lot of information. My interpretation is that the American people are still a little unsure of what to do about Iraq. They have that feeling in the pit of their stomachs that the war wasn't right, isn't going well, and will undoubtedly finish badly. At the same time, a large number of Americans aren't ready yet to re-deploy those troops, either out of theater or into an 'over the horizon' posture.

This information, combined with Senator Lieberman's loss yesterday, proves that Americans are ready to punish candidates they feel are to quick to swallow the President's talking points about the War in Iraq. Voters in certain states are probably ready for real anti-war candidates.

The most concrete outcome, however, will be the immediate end of the 'rubber stamp' congress Bush has lorded over for the last 5 years. After watching Lieberman lose, Democrats will know that they must have some real bona fides when it comes to opposing Bush on the war or they too could be dumped by voters. Moderate Republicans are beginning to see the President's war as a boat anchor they must carry as well.

This election cycle will be about the war. Bush having to put more troops in Bagdad and the reports of thousands of civilian deaths in Iraq aren't going to make this election any better for Republicans.

Public Support War in Iraq Republicans Anti-War Democrats 2006 Election