"Will Democrats Spend Their Political Capital?"

Ari Berman:

In the Democratic response to Bush, Senator Dick Durbin hinted at Congressional action beyond passing a non-binding resolution. "I believe we need to go beyond that," Senator Barack Obama said tonight. The logical next step is legislation introduced by Kennedy and Rep. Marty Meehan, which simply and effectively states that "no funds can be spent to send additional troops to Iraq unless Congress approves the President's proposed escalation of American forces." Presidential candidates John Edward and Tom Vilsack have endorsed such an approach.

Criticism alone will not be enough to stop the President in this instance. In an important post, blogger Chris Bowers likens the coming fight over escalation to the 2005 battle to save Social Security. "In the Social Security fight, Democrats ended up looking like heroes not just because they weren't those evil Republicans who tried to destroy Social Security," Bowers writes, "but rather because Democrats were those stalwart fighters who prevented Republicans from destroying Social Security."