Why can't Reid -- and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former Sen. John Edwards and others -- follow Baird's example? Because, unlike Baird, they voted in 2003 to authorize the use of military force in Iraq. In other words, they were for the war when that was politically popular, then they turned against the war when the going got rough and the polls headed south, and now, if they shift again, they fear they will look like triple flip-flopping opportunists.
The temptation to be gleeful should be resisted -- most of all by those of us who have been determined to see a successful outcome salvaged in Iraq. Instead, politicians looking for a way back to the pro-victory coalition should be given assistance.
I'll contribute my 2 cents: Here, Sen. Reid, are a few talking points for you and others who may want to jump off the defeatist bandwagon without breaking your political necks:
Say that President Bush should have foreseen that toppling Saddam would create a vacuum -- and an irresistible temptation for al Qaeda and Iran. Say that Bush was foolish to proclaim "Mission Accomplished" when the toughest tasks still lay ahead, and irresponsible to shout "Bring it On" when he was neither militarily nor politically prepared for what was coming. Say it took Bush too long to recognize that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his top generals in Iraq needed to be replaced by commanders with a new and improved strategy.
Say the credit for turning the situation around in Iraq goes to American men and women in uniform. Say America has the most dedicated, courageous and -- perhaps most important -- adaptable military the world has ever seen. Say that as much as you think Bush deserves to take more heat, you understand that when a plane crashes it's not just the pilot who burns.
Finally, say you are not among those who regard bad news in Iraq as good news for yourself and the Democratic Party. Say that while you may have been persuaded that America's defeat in Iraq was inevitable, you were never among those who saw America's defeat as desirable. Such people betray us. You should say that, too.