GOP, Democrats Attempt to Form Plan for Iraq

ByABC News via logo
November 10, 2006, 6:52 AM

Nov. 10, 2006 — -- As the Democrats seize control of the Senate and the House, the question remains: Can they find common ground with Republicans on the war in Iraq?

After another day of pledges of bipartisan cooperation on Iraq, Republicans are looking for ways to save face, and Democrats are looking for ideas.

"We will do our very best to address big problems," President Bush said, following the election.

Most of Washington is relying on former Rep. Lee Hamilton and former Secretary of State James Baker, head of the Iraq study group, to outline a bipartisan way out of the war.

A few basic options are under consideration.

The first one is troop withdrawal, the option that many Democrats have pushed for.

Another option is beefing up troop strength, which would be one final push for a decisive routing of sectarian violence.

The final option is to give up on the short-term goal of democracy in Iraq and instead emphasize stability by possibly partitioning the country into separate ethnic and religious sectors.

Experts say it will be difficult for Bush to support a withdrawal of troops.

"Pulling out all our troops from Iraq immediately would be not only be an admission of defeat by the president, it would reverse the fundamental justification he has given for the war in Iraq," said USA Today Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page.

How the Bush administration handles Iraq over the next two years is likely to play a large role in the 2008 presidential election.

The current front-runners in the race for president -- Republican John McCain and Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton -- don't have a political interest in seeing Iraq remain a wrenching issue for the public.

Both have been war supporters, though Clinton has consistently distanced herself from the Bush administration.

Politically speaking, the most damaging scenario for Republicans at this point, especially McCain, who has been an ardent war supporter, is gambling on an all-out victory and failing.