Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

November 19, 2005

Iraq Takes Center Stage for 2006

The ferocity of yesterday's fight in the House of Representatives "over a measure to withdraw American troops from Iraq shows that the war may command the high ground in the coming electoral contest, and that the course of events in Iraq -- whether a new government takes hold, whether the violence continues, whether American troops are still committed in large numbers and still being killed by the scores each month -- will be of prime political consequence here," the New York Times reports.

The Los Angeles Times notes yesterday's debate "vividly exposed the widening rifts between Democrats and Republicans over the course of the war."

House Majority Leader Roy Blunt (R-MO) summed up the other problem for Republicans: "Bad poll numbers on your side unite your opponents and divide you a little bit."

Meanwhile, Glenn Reynolds notes Republicans may have won yesterday's vote but it's unclear they know what to do next. His advice: "The Administration needs to deal with this with a more active PR strategy, making clear that in fact the Iraqis are taking over the brunt of the work."

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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