The Democrats in a Box
HAYES, STEPHEN F.
The Democrats in a Box Bush will insist on an Iraq vote, and Congress looks unlikely to defy him. by Stephen F. Hayes CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS seem to agree on at least one aspect of the current...
...In that second group are senators Joe Biden, John Kerry, Carl Levin, and, most important, Majority Leader Tom Daschle...
...This has to happen now...
...The strong presumption is that the president will get strong bipartisan support on a resolution," says Dan Ger-stein, communications director for Senator Joseph Lieberman...
...So, yes, we are going to be insistent...
...resolution before Congress votes on a final resolution...
...Daschle trotted out a list of questions he needs answered before he could support a resolution, although he allowed that a vote before Congress recesses a month from now is "likely...
...Administration officials concede that they have "more work to do" with Democrats, but they are confident that much of the remaining opposition will disappear over the coming weeks, as the president details the threat...
...to act...
...Put it this way— the U.N...
...Administration officials say that such a letter is not yet in the works, but they are leaving that option open...
...But the strangest idea came from Kerry, who in essence, recommended a congressional resolution calling for a U.N...
...I am already convinced...
...speech, says a national security official with knowledge of administration planning, "wasn't our first shot, it wasn't our last shot, and it certainly wasn't our best shot" at making the case against Saddam Hussein...
...The U.N...
...Stephen F. Hayes is a staff writer at THE WEEKLY STANDARD...
...comments a senior White House official...
...Biden called Bush's address to the U.N...
...speech...
...Several senators—Georgia's Zell Miller, John Edwards of North Carolina, and Lieberman prominent among them—have indicated that they will vote in favor of such a resolution regardless of when it's presented...
...He has made the case with me...
...Without question, I am with the president," says Miller...
...Kyl says he called National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to suggest that the president send a letter to Congress formally requesting a vote...
...and only then can we take this up," he says...
...The remaining opposition is largely conditional...
...General Assembly "brilliant," but said that he doesn't want a vote before the elections, lest the debate become too politicized...
...The president answered that question himself with one word: yes," says White House congressional liaison Nick Calio...
...by Stephen F. Hayes CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS seem to agree on at least one aspect of the current debate over U.S...
...speech last Thursday, and then promptly set about throwing up additional obstacles to an expedited vote...
...The administration is forming bipartisan working groups in both the House and the Senate that are expected to meet two to three times weekly until the president has gotten congressional approval...
...Senator Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican who has become a leading voice for conservatives in the upper chamber, also criticized those who would delay a vote on a congressional resolution...
...Others rushed to praise the president's U.N...
...resolution...
...They want to slice and dice it...
...The president was dismissive of such an approach in comments he made Friday...
...I can't imagine an elected . . . member of the U.S...
...Although Bush has not yet formally requested a vote, he has made his feelings clear to leaders of both chambers: He wants an accelerated vote...
...debate...
...policy in Iraq: President Bush will eventually have bipartisan backing from Congress for the use of force against Saddam Hussein...
...How and when he gets a vote on such a resolution, however, are questions that split Democrats...
...third, a U.N...
...Democrats waiting for the U.N...
...If [Democrats] are bailing on their opposition to the president now, wait until people see Act II, when there will be new revelations about just how serious a threat we face...
...Liberals are now saying this is a multi-stage process...
...Senate or House of Representatives saying 'I think I'm going to wait for the United Nations to make a decision," Bush said with a muffled laugh...
...If Iraq did something tomorrow and Americans got hurt, what do you think the people on the Hill would be saying to us...
...It seems like to me that if you're representing the United States you ought to be making a decision on what's best for the United States...
...Regardless of how it happens, though, the president will demand a congressional vote before Congress leaves town in early October...
...We can walk and chew gum at the same time...
...second, the U.N...
...Levin wants to give the president a sort of calibrated authorization—little bits here and there—a proposal one GOP senator calls "nuts...
...speech was the first act of a three-act play...
...Zell Miller, a frequent Bush supporter, is one of a handful of Democrats whom the White House is counting on to make the case in his party...
...First, the U.N...
...While administration officials won't characterize the threat from Saddam as "imminent," they contend that the matter is urgent enough to warrant immediate action in Congress...
Vol. 8 • September 2002 • No. 2
