I could have told the Democrats that the only result they would gain from bashing Bush was to shave some points off his poll numbers and tank their own. I could have told the GOP far right the only firm result they would get for bashing Bush was to do the same thing. In fact I think I did try and tell them this would be the result. But this is the worst crop of ‘leaders’ we have had in DC since the inception of this country. The Democrats have become the pandering Surrendercrats – so wedded to their far left base they now admit they don’t care what happens in Iraq, they just want votes and promise to surrender Iraq to get them”

On the eve of a war assessment by U.S. commanding Gen. David Petraeus, the presidential hopefuls said troops should begin coming home no matter what the report says.

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Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards said he is concerned the Petraeus report “will be basically a sales job by the White House, that it’ll be a PR document.”

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Hillary Rodham Clinton said nothing in the report will change the basic problem that there is no military solution in Iraq.

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“I was a strong opponent of the war, as Dennis was,” Obama said, adding that President Bush is trying to make it appear that the 35,000 troop surge earlier this year has had an impact.

Presidents who do not listen to the military when it is trying to give advice are doomed. The Democrats have no interest in listening to our military on the results of the Surge and the implications to America and the world in giving al-Qaeda a victory as they face utter defeat at the hands of our new Muslims allies. Muslims who have lived under al-Qaeda’s graces and now have taken up arms and sworn on the Koran to destroy al-Qaeda. But the Democrat wannabes are not interested in facts, they only want votes. So they go to a Hispanic event and promise open borders and US citizenship to all! Won’t al-Qaeda love to take advantage of that little security gap in our defenses.

The GOP has lost all credibility with America by turning on their own leader. No one can trust back stabbers and no one will. The fact is, in tough times especially, the people of this country have no patience for petty in-fighting. When people are dying and the future of the world is at stake we expect a level of seriousness and compromise for the greater good. Name calling is definitely NOT on the list leadership characteristics we envision. Sadly, all the GOP and Dems do is make up quaint derogatory names about Bush – they don’t DO anything. Even the once vaulted Fred Thompson has confused a smoking ban by al-Qaeda with the events key to the changes in Iraq. Forget al-Qaeda’s torture of Iraqis, kidnapping of daughters for forced marriages, their killing of whole families in front of the eyes of their children, and their endless bombings and massacres – none of that had any effect on why Iraqis rose up against al-Qaeda. It was all the Marlboro Man.

Which leads me to the not-surprising reality of today – America is fed up with the left and right and have turned to those who are actually achieving something. And more importantly, we are turning our respect to those who are sacrificing something as well. The DC pols are simply covering their wide butts – nothing more (with the exception of Bush who is standing by his goals to the bitter end – and history will be the judge of whether he deserves credit or not). Our soldiers in Iraq are covering the comrades butts and trying to protect us – not just themselves. By these actions alone they deserve more credence than the professional whiners back here in the States. And it seems America agrees:

Americans trust military commanders far more than the Bush administration or Congress to bring the war in Iraq to a successful end, and while most favor a withdrawal of American troops beginning next year, they suggested they were open to doing so at a measured pace, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.

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The poll found that both Congress, whose approval rating now stands at its lowest level since Democrats took control from the Republicans last year, and Mr. Bush enter the debate with little public confidence in their ability to deal with Iraq. Only 5 percent of Americans — a strikingly low number for a sitting president’s handling of such a dominant issue — said they most trusted the Bush administration to resolve the war, the poll found. Asked to choose among the administration, Congress and military commanders, 21 percent said they would most trust Congress and 68 percent expressed most trust in military commanders.

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As a result, Americans reflected a nuanced concern about the consequences of a withdrawal, even as they fervently expressed hope for one. The consequences of leaving Iraq hastily or prematurely has been one of the administration’s recurrent themes of late.

Presented with three possible plans, the poll found that Americans favored a measured approach, with 56 percent supporting reducing troops in Iraq, but leaving some in place to train Iraqi forces, fight terrorists and protect American diplomats.

Twenty-two percent favored a complete withdrawal in the next year, and 20 percent favored keeping the same number of troops “until there is a stable democracy in Iraq.”

Just under half favored a decrease or withdrawal of all troops even if the result was “more mass killings” among Iraq’s ethnic groups. The proportion favoring reductions or a withdrawal dropped to 30 percent if Iraq would become a base of operations for terrorists as a result.

I hate to point out to the leftwing nutters the obvious, but if Bush follows the lead of his military leaders his 5% gets added to the 68% that goes to the military commanders, leaving the Dems with a worthless 21% of support. 73-21 is three to one against the Dems and their calls for surrender at any cost. And do the Dems care? Of course not! They naively thought the world was centered around the Daily KoS and The Democrat Underground. But soon they will learn the truth – these marginal but vocal outlets don’t win elections. Just ask Senator Ned Lamont.

One thing is clear, only a strange and pathetic minority are willing to hand Iraq to al-Qaeda. And as long as the winner in any withdraw is Bin Laden and al-Qaeda, America will have to find the grit and fortitude to win this war. Failure is not an option outside the small and irrelevant leftward fevered swamps. Americans still strive to win.