As posted here earlier, the two thirds of the Democrat base which are hard core liberal are really pushing for their Democrat leaders to back Russ Feingold’s censure petition against President Bush. But the Democrat’s in the Senate are cowering and hiding, and basically committing political suicide:

“I haven’t read it,” demurred Barack Obama (Ill.).

“I just don’t have enough information,” protested Ben Nelson (Neb.). “I really can’t right now,” John Kerry (Mass.) said as he hurried past a knot of reporters — an excuse that fell apart when Kerry was forced into an awkward wait as Capitol Police stopped an aide at the magnetometer.

Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) brushed past the press pack, shaking her head and waving her hand over her shoulder. When an errant food cart blocked her entrance to the meeting room, she tried to hide from reporters behind the 4-foot-11 Barbara Mikulski (Md.).

“Ask her after lunch,” offered Clinton’s spokesman, Philippe Reines. But Clinton, with most of her colleagues, fled the lunch out a back door as if escaping a fire.

In a sense, they were. The cause of so much evasion was S. Res. 398, the resolution proposed Monday by Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) calling for the censure of President Bush for his warrantless wiretapping program.

…

So nonplused were Democrats that even Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), known for his near-daily news conferences, made history by declaring, “I’m not going to comment.” Would he have a comment later? “I dunno,” the suddenly shy senator said.

They can’t run for from their base. They are trapped in a trap of their own making. And it will get worse. The new litmus test is impeaching Bush:

Feingold, seeking liberals’ support for the 2008 presidential nomination, said he wasn’t motivated by politics. But then he slipped. “If there’s any Democrat out there who can’t say . . . the president has no right to make up his own laws, I don’t know if that Democrat really is the right candidate,” he said of his likely primary opponents.

Emphasis mine. As I predicted, the test for all Democrat candidates in all races (which is necessary to push impeachment) will be the Feingold standard. It seems Sen Harkin will pass the test:

Dodd must not have checked with Sen. Tom Harkin (Iowa). “The president broke the law and he needs to be held accountable,” he said. “Talk about high crimes and misdemeanors!” Harkin said he’ll vote for the Feingold resolution — if it comes up.

The Democrats are now caught between their rhetoric and their political survival!

Addendum: The Washington Post also notes the futile effort of Nartional Democrats to deny their core base:

For months the Democrats have resisted calls from their liberal base to more aggressively challenge President Bush. Now a maverick Democratic senator from Wisconsin has forced his party and Congress to confront head-on the question of whether Bush should somehow be punished for secretly ordering warrantless wiretaps of U.S. citizens.

Emphasis mine. And for months the base has risen up to demand recognition of their primary issue. Who will win? At least the Post understands the implication for the 2006 election cycle:

Sen. Russell Feingold’s call this week to formally censure Bush for what some say was a clear violation of a federal statute regulating domestic surveillance has touched off a fierce debate on Capitol Hill that is likely to persist throughout the congressional campaign season.

This is not going away, in fact it is just starting.