Other Views of Maria

Why Cantwell's Position On the War is a Non-Position

Atrios put his finger squarely on the reason I find Maria Cantwell's "year of transition" non-position position on the Iraq War to be completely and utterly unsatisfying:

The real issue isn't what Democrats are saying about Iraq now. The real issue is knowing what they're going to say in October, and laying the foundation now to do that. In the plan:

Ensure 2006 is a year of significant transition to full Iraqi sovereignty, with the Iraqis assuming primary responsibility for securing and governing their country and with the responsible redeployment of U.S. forces.

Early November is pretty near the end of 2006 and at that time, I imagine, Iraq will still be shit. If 2006 fails to be "a year of significant transition" what will Democrats be saying then? Forget the unified message now, what will be the unified message then?

Cantwell voted for the war. She, along with a lot of other Democrats (but not Patty Murray) was wrong. There were no WMDs. We didn't need to go to war.

Unlike many other Democrats, Cantwell doesn't seem able to admit that the war -- and her vote for it -- were both mistakes, and that leaves her unable to put forth any ideas about how to move forward out of this quagmire. Instead, we're stuck with her mouthing half-baked non-messages from Party HQ.

C'mon! Where's the kind of leadership you've shown on energy and the environment? You can do better.

And, yes, I'm still voting for you.-Evergreen Politics.

Blah blah blah blah blah blah

Arthur (Rueger)at Washblog met with Maria Cantwell and it went OK.

Maria has not "Crawforded" those who want her to explain. Whether or not I liked her answers is immaterial.

Furthermore, I did not see an imperial senator full of poise, polish and indifference whose focus was on "yeah yeah yeah-ing" her way through an endurance contest she could not avoid. At one point, Lietta literally expressed her sense of wanting to speak to Cantwell "woman to woman" and declared that if she (Maria) truly was not "impersonal", the impersonal manner in which she has been coming across has been destructive to her image. The reaction was visible.-Washington State Political Report.