Is Iraq a terrific issue for anti-war liberal Democrats? Which way is it?
A) "With three weeks until Election Day, Republican candidates are barely mentioning Iraq on the campaign trail and in their television advertisements....It is the Democrats who have seized on Iraq as a central issue. In debates and in speeches, candidates are pummeling Republicans with accusations of a failed war." -- Adam Nagourney and Jim Rutenberg in the New York Times, October 19.
B) "After months of fighting over Iraq, the candidates for Senate barely mentioned the war in their first general-election debate here on Monday, instead arguing over Social Security, health care and the national deficit." -- Jennifer Medina on the Connecticut Senate debate, October 17.
If the Iraq war is such a great issue for liberal Democrats, the Connecticut Senate race is no longer such a media favorite, with Daily Kos-favored Ned Lamont fading away against "pro-war" Democrat Sen. Joe Lieberman. The Washington Post described the last debate with this headline: "Giant-Killer Lamont Stumbles." It's an odd headline, considering it's the giant that's presently crushing Lamont...
