Democratic Rift Widens Over Iraq Funding

April 3, 2007— -- A rift is widening between top Democratic presidential candidates over how best to confront President Bush's promise to veto a war funding bill that includes any timetable for U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq.

John Edwards, a former North Carolina senator making his second presidential bid, is asking his former colleagues in Congress to "stand their ground," directly challenging Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., on the issue.

Renewing his veto threat Tuesday, Bush told reporters, "In a time of war, it's irresponsible for the Democratic leadership in Congress to delay for months on end while our troops in combat are waiting for the funds."

That statement prompted nearly immediate reaction from Edwards, who has not been shy about keeping members' feet to the fire over Iraq.

"If the president vetoes a funding bill, Congress should send him another bill that funds the troops, brings them home, and ends the war. And if he vetoes that one, they should send him another that does the same thing," Edwards said Tuesday in a statement released by his campaign.

Edwards' position on confronting Bush puts him to the left of Obama.

Campaigning in Iowa, Obama did not back away from recent remarks to The Associated Press that Congress would send the president a "clean" war funding bill (i.e., one without a timetable for troop withdrawal) if Bush vetoes an initial attempt by Congress to impose a timeline for U.S. troop involvement.

In a Monday telephone interview with the Union Leader's John DiStaso, a leading political writer in New Hampshire, Obama reiterated his view that neither he nor "the vast majority of Democrats" are interested in cutting funding for troops in the field.

Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., has charted a course between that of Edwards and Obama.

Unlike Edwards, she has not publicly committed herself to insisting on a postveto confrontation with Bush. At the same time, she has broken with Obama by refusing to signal that Bush could get war funding without a timetable if he vetoes the current bill making its way through Congress.