Political Street Cred

Reid Rising: With his defensive leadership style and refusal make his own proposals, Democratic Senator Harry Reid used to scrape the credibility bottom. Like Nancy Pelosi though, Reid has proven to be a tough leader now that he's working with a majority. Reid gained even more credibility yesterday by responding to Bush's veto threat on the Iraq funding bill by moving for a March 1, 2008 fund cut-off altogether.

Obama Falling: Barack Obama made a real gaffe when he claimed that the Senate would give Bush what he wanted on Iraq funding in the event of a veto. Obama's statement that members of Congress don't want "to play chicken with our troops" was highly unfortunate. Democrats don't want a confrontation over Iraq funding, but Bush has set up a game of chicken with his no-negotiation stance and the Democrats need to play if they want to maintain credibility.

In fact, standing up to Bush on the Iraq funding issue is crucial if the Democrats want to demonstrate that they are tough enough to lead the government through these difficult times. Harry Reid seems to understand this better than Obama.

McCain Ridiculous. John McCain managed a two-fer on the losing credibility front. His stroll down a Baghdad street to demonstate "better security" was such a super-blunder that both he and the war lost credibility. Given that McCain wore a flak jacket, had a hundred troops with him, had helicopters flying overhead, and that the area had been swept beforehand, the only thing that McCain's walk demonstrated was McCain's longing for a photo op. McCain got his picture, but he looked surreal, absurd, and stupid. TPM is right in claiming that McCain looked just as iconically ridiculous in Baghdad as Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis looked riding a tank in 1988.

The Dick Cheney Follies. Of course, Dick Cheney has more credibility as a break-dancer or safe hunter than he has as Vice-President. Cheney's speech yesterday at a fund-raising luncheon for Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama had several cringe-inducing moments. Especially notable was Cheney's statement that "it's time the self-appointed strategists on Capitol Hill understood a very simple concept: You cannot win a war if you tell the enemy you're going to quit."

Unfortunately for Cheney, he's never been able to understand the "very simple concept" that the war is already lost.

But that's how Cheney lost all his credibility. After completely screwing up the war, Cheney is still pretending that "victory" is just within our reach if we only have the will enough to grasp it. That kind of attitude works at GOP fundraisers but the rest of the American population is beyond disgusted with the phony bravado, lies, half-truths, overselling, and evasions. Maybe Cheney needs to take some more of his friends on a hunting trip.