A Plague on the Nation

Anti-War Voters Lash Out at Democrats They Helped Put in Office
2007-11-13 00:02 (New York)


By Nicholas Johnston
    Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- When the Democratic Party called up
recently to ask Myrna Burgess for a campaign contribution, she
answered with an emphatic ``no.''
    ``Nothing has been done as far as the war is concerned,''
said Burgess, 72, an Amtrak worker from Levittown, Pennsylvania.
    More than a year after anti-war voters like Burgess helped
give Democrats control of Congress, there are more troops in
Iraq, lawmakers have approved almost $100 billion in new war
spending and congressional approval ratings are at record lows.
    Democrats now worry that their inability to make good on
campaign promises to end or slow the war in Iraq will have
consequences. The disaffection has already fueled at least four
anti-war primary challenges to party incumbents, raising fears
among some lawmakers of an intra-party fight that could drain
momentum before next year's elections.
    ``They want someone to be held accountable,'' said
Representative Lynn Woolsey of California, a leading anti-war
Democrat in the House.
    For the moment, political analysts said polls show that
Democrats are likely to keep or expand their congressional
majorities. While only 22 percent of registered voters said they
approve of the way Congress is handling its job in a
Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times survey conducted last month, those
voters are almost evenly split over which party is to blame.

                        Blaming Republicans

    Voters are ``extremely frustrated'' about the absence of
results, said freshman Democratic Representative Patrick Murphy,
an Iraq veteran who was elected last year in Burgess's district
on an anti-war platform. At the same time, he predicted that
President George W. Bush's party would bear the brunt in next
year's presidential and congressional elections.
    ``They will take out their frustrations on them and
rightfully so,'' he said.
    Still, there are some trouble spots for Democrats, as
groups across the country begin to try to harness the voter
disapproval. In Washington state, the anti-war group MoveOn.org
has produced ads condemning Democratic Representative Brian
Baird for his refusal to support legislative timetables for a
withdrawal from Iraq. The group is also polling members on
whether to mount primary challenges against the lawmakers they
consider ineffective in trying to end the war.

                        Primary Challenge

    Already in Illinois, where congressional primaries have
been moved up to Feb. 5, anti-war challengers have emerged to
take on two House Democrats, Melissa Bean and Dan Lipinski. Both
incumbents are expected to prevail easily, and Lipinski is in a
safe Democratic seat. Bean's is one of the top Democratic seats
being targeted by Republicans, however, and a primary battle
could weaken her in the general election.
    In Maryland, a primary opponent has criticized Democrat
Albert Wynn's early support of the war, and in California, House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi faces a primary challenge from Cindy
Sheehan, an anti-war activist who lost a son in Iraq and has led
protests across the country.
    As primary filing deadlines approach, more anti-war
candidates are likely to spring up, said Brandon Friedman, vice
chairman of VoteVets.org, a group that recruits military
veterans who oppose the Iraq war to run for Congress.
    ``The Democrats were elected in 2006 to end the war in
Iraq, and that hasn't happened,'' he said. ``This frustration is
going to manifest itself in a lot of different ways in the next
year.''
    That sentiment was evident in interviews in the
Philadelphia suburbs last month with more than a dozen anti-war
voters, who said Democrats hadn't used their congressional
majority to thwart Bush's policies.

                          `Disappointed'

    ``I am disappointed because I thought they would get a lot
more accomplished,'' Harold Fisher, an 82-year old retiree from
Levittown, said.
    Last year, these Philadelphia-area voters helped Democrats
gain two new House seats, including the one held by Murphy, an
Iraq war veteran who won by just 1,157 votes out of almost
250,000 cast.
    Anti-war rumblings haven't yet translated into a serious
challenge for Murphy, 34, and Pennsylvania's other freshmen
Democrats. Voters such as Joel Tenenbaum, a 58-year-old
government employee from Levittown, say they want to give them
more time, or wider majorities.
    ``They want to get this stuff done but they don't have the
votes,'' Tenenbaum said.

                          Democratic Edge

    Nationally, anti-war sentiment continues to give Democrats
a strong ``edge'' next year, said Donald Kettl, director of the
Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania
in Philadelphia. ``Republicans are going to have a difficult
time,'' he said.
    To mollify their critics, Democrats have pledged to
continue to push for a change of course in Iraq. They plan to
vote this week on a $50 billion war-funding bill that mandates
troop withdrawals. The measure is expected to do no better than
previous attempts, which have either died in the Senate or been
vetoed by Bush.
    Democratic leaders acknowledge that these stalemates may be
eroding their support with the party's anti-war wing, and say
they are aware of the potential for a voter backlash.
    ``We haven't been effective in ending the war in Iraq,''
Pelosi told reporters Nov. 1. ``If you asked me in a phone call,
as ardent a Democrat as I am, I would disapprove of Congress as
well.''

--Editor: Berley (rdm/tab).

To contact the reporter on this story:
Nicholas Johnston in Levittown, Pennsylvania at
+1-202-654-1264 or njohnston3@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Forsythe in Washington +1-202-624-1940
mforsythe@bloomberg.net

[TAGINFO]

NI US
NI GOV
NI CNG
NI PA
NI IRAQ
NI POL
NI WAR
NI DC



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