It would not be difficult, if congressional tempers rose that fiercely in opposition to Iraq, to reword opposition from particularities of presidential conduct (Iraq) to generic delinquencies (official misconduct). Some members of Congress, faced with the alternatives, would rather proceed to argue that the president has violated his oath of office, than to argue that he made wrong decisions in a particular theater of operations.
Imagine that you are a Republican legislator anticipating a run for re-election next year. Your prospective opponent is arguing hard and noisily to conclude the Iraq operation. He is taking the lead from Senator Reid: Go for a bill with a timetable.
Question No. 1 for the GOP candidate: Do I go along with the timetable? Question No. 2 would then be: Do I vote to override the president's veto? And then, Do I vote for impeachment?
Impeachment is an ugly word in American history. Impeachment was voted in 1998 against President Clinton, but for the concrete offenses of lying to a federal grand jury and obstructing justice. And when the articles of impeachment went to the Senate, the vote fell far short of the two-thirds necessary to convict.
It is not inconceivable that the power brokers in Washington in the present case would pause over the alternative of impeachment, but there are no means in this situation merely to settle for the satisfaction of having impeached. The question of Iraq would continue, as also the question of the right of presidents to prescribe strategy.
Ugly challenges, but it's an ugly dilemma, and the question at the deep end is: Can democratic government handle this thing smoothly, and live again?