Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have been quick to praise the accomplishments of American troops in the surge. And one Democratic House member, Washington's Brian Baird, has gone further since returning from an Iraq visit. While gains are "still precarious," the "situation on the ground in Iraq is improving in multiple and important ways," he said. "I do not know the details of what the September report will contain, but I trust and respect Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker. I have seen firsthand the progress they have made, and I firmly believe we must give them the time and resources they need to succeed."

Four months ago, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid could confidently declare: "This war is lost." Now that is an open question. A recent Zogby poll found that a majority of Americans do not believe the war is lost. And this makes Democratic policies based on the assumption of hopelessness -- rigid timetables and funding cuts -- strategically irresponsible and politically risky. If defeat is inevitable, it makes sense to cut our losses. If defeat is only possible, preemptively ensuring it would confirm a long-standing Democratic image of weakness.

None of these shifts over the summer means that victory in Iraq is near, or even easily definable. Many political benchmarks remain unmet by the Iraqi government. But undeniable progress on the security front has some practical implications. Even if Democrats press a legislative timetable for withdrawal, it is unlikely that they will get the support of 17 Republicans in the Senate to override a presidential veto. The confrontation with Congress may be over by October. As the military has already stated, troop reductions will begin sometime early next year because the Army can't sustain the surge indefinitely. But the president will have gotten an extended period of intensified military activity before his term ends. And unless conditions deteriorate unpredictably, the next president may inherit a more manageable situation -- allowing him or her to make deliberate troop reductions as Iraqi capabilities increase, without turning parts of the country back over to extremists.

Much, of course, depends on the Iraqis themselves, because liberty is ultimately won, not given. But the summer, at least, has brought rumors of hope.