Editorial: Bush blind to failure

Sunday, May 27, 2007 | 7:13 a.m.

While many Democrats, however reluctantly, support the new war-funding bill that contains no provisions for troop withdrawals from Iraq, many also are outspokenly bitter about the legislation that President Bush signed into law Friday.

"I hate this agreement," Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., said before Thursday's House vote. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said, "Half-measures and equivocations are not going to change our course in Iraq."

Their comments represent the view of disappointed Democrats whose instincts were to keep fighting against President Bush's May 1 veto of the first bill. Continued funding of the Iraq war was authorized in that bill, but only on the condition that the president start withdrawing U.S. forces next year.

We, too, are disappointed by Bush's veto. The November midterm election was a clear message from the American people that majority support for the rudderless Iraq war has vanished. Recent national polling shows that opposition to the war is becoming even stronger.

Nevertheless, we understand why Democratic leaders allowed the new bill to be voted on.

The fact remains that most Republicans in Congress continue to back Bush on the war, despite his administration's gargantuan failures in all of its aspects. This means Congress has no chance of overturning the president's veto. It would have done no good for the Democratic majority to keep sending the same bill back to the White House.

We believe the first bill accomplished for the Democrats what they were put into office to do, which was to clearly articulate their opposition to Bush's handling of the war. With the Democrats' attempted override of the veto, they exposed the blind support Bush enjoys from congressional Republicans.

The Democrats, as most Americans would want them to, had also promised to fund the troops while they are in harm's way. This second bill, which funds the war through September and provides some needed domestic funding, follows through on that promise.

The American people voted for Bush as president and commander in chief, and for now, unless and until he starts listening to his constituents, this country will do it his way. Votes do matter. The next election is November 2008.