As Weather Cools, Election Races Heat Up

WASHINGTON, Sept. 5, 2006 — -- With the violence in Iraq still escalating -- and the president's approval ratings still low because of it -- the Democrats have staked their ground.

In a letter to the president Monday, the Democratic leadership called the administration's Iraq strategy a failure, saying, "This current path is neither working, nor making us more secure."

Said Senator Joe Biden, D-Del.: "There is no coherence in terms of an overall policy."

And for the first time Monday the Democratic leadership joined together in calling for the ouster of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Last week, Rumsfeld likened critics of the war to those who ignored the rise of Nazis in the 1930s, angering Democrats and even Republicans.

New Jersey Republican Senate candidate Tom Kean Jr, just this weekend called for Rumsfeld to step down. New Jersey is one of the states where the Republicans are hoping to pick up a senate seat, but, like a number of Republican congressional candidates, Kean is now distancing himself from the president because of bad poll numbers over Iraq.

Candidates across the country marching in traditional Labor Day parades Monday were well aware of what is at stake -- control of Congress. The Republicans are in danger of losing control of the House, and could face losses in the Senate.

Chuck Todd, editor of The Hotline, a Washington, D.C. political newsletter said, "If the voter goes into the polls thinking about Iraq, then Democrats will have a big night. If voters are thinking about terrorism then Republicans have a fighting chance."

President Bush, for his part, was well aware of the divide and has embarked on a new stategy, talking less about Iraq, and more about the global war on terror. On Monday, he mentioned only the troops fighting the battle.

"The people of this country, the people of the United States of America," Bush said from Piney Point, Md., "stand squarely behind the men and women who wear our uniform."

That may be true, but it is how long those troops stay, and the civilian leaders who are running the war which is dividing the country, and may well be the deciding factor in elections this fall.