Today's Iraq Funding Weigh-in

The Fired Prosecutors scandal, Abuse of National Security Letters Scandal, and GSA scandal are all significant. But the big showdown this spring is going to be about what to do after President Bush vetoes the Iraq funding measure. Bush yet might flinch, but the President and the Democratic leadership still engaged in some mild pre-veto taunting about the Iraq funding bill.

President Bush: "Some [lawmakers] believe that by delaying funding for our troops, they can force me to accept restrictions on our commanders that I believe would make withdrawal and defeat more likely . . . That's not going to happen."

Harry Reid: "Why doesn't [Bush] get real with what's going on in the world . . . His arrogance is getting real out of touch with what's going on with reality."

Nancy Pelosi: "Pelosi stood in front of the cameras to offer "a hand of friendship" and urge the president to "calm down with the threats . . . There's a new Congress in town. We respect your constitutional role. We want you to respect ours."

The heavier taunting will probably commence as Bush and the Democrats get closer to fight day although Nancy Pelosi's evidently been brushing up on her pseudo-Western cliches. Perhaps she's looking to confuse and distract a president who thought he had a monopoly on tough-guy gestures.

But the bottom line is that the Democrats outweigh the president in the polls by 59%-34% on whether there should be a deadline for withdrawing from Iraq and 80%-15% on whether troops should meet readiness criteria before they're deployed.

That's why Pelosi and Reid were jabbing and hooking like Oscar De La Hoya. They know they have the public on their side. Unfortunately for President Bush, he's huffing and puffing like a washed-up heavyweight who acts like winning or losing is simply a matter of who has the stronger "will." And that's pretty much all Bush can do as long as his poll numbers are in the low to mid-thirties. To even things up, Bush needs to get his numbers up into the high forties, a place they haven't been for almost a year.

Of course, things would be easier for Bush if his government were not plagued by so many scandals that it's hard to keep up with them all.

Initial Taunting Advantage: Democrats.