42 Dems running for Congress vow to push for an “immediate drawdown” in Iraq if elected

The Washington Post reports on the cut and runners-in training (h/t: HH):

More than three dozen Democratic congressional candidates banded together yesterday to promise that, if elected, they will push for legislation calling for an immediate drawdown of troops in Iraq that would leave only a security force in place to guard the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

Rejecting their party leaders’ assertions that economic troubles have become the top issue on voters’ minds, leaders of the coalition of 38 House and four Senate candidates pledged to make immediate withdrawal from Iraq the centerpiece of their campaigns.

“The people inside the Beltway don’t seem to get how big an issue this is,” said Darcy Burner, a repeat candidate who narrowly lost to Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Wash.) in 2006.

The group’s 36-page plan does not set a specific deadline for when all combat troops must be out of Iraq. “Begin it now, do it as safely as you can and get everyone out,” Burner said.

The starkest difference between the group’s proposal, dubbed a “Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq,” and those embraced by many senior Democrats and the party’s presidential candidates is that it rejects the idea of leaving U.S. troops on the ground to train Iraqi security forces or engage in anti-terrorism operations. The group instead calls for a dramatic increase in regional diplomacy and the deployment of international peacekeeping forces, if necessary.

Brian Faughnan at the Weekly Standard blog points out that the plan these Democrats are following mimics Obama’s:

[…] we’re getting out as fast as we can, regardless of conditions on the ground, and we reserve the right to get back in if we learn that al Qaeda is, in fact, operating in the country.

Here’s a list of the Dem candidates who endorsed the plan. I have little doubt that they know where their bread is buttered.

This article should serve as a serious wake-up call to any conservative and/or Republican who plans on sitting out this election. Even if you can’t bring yourself to pull the lever for McCain, Congressional elections are just as important. We’ve got an uphill battle as it is with all the Republican retirements from the House (scroll) and Senate. Sitting it out will only make matters worse, not just here – but abroad as well. There’s simply too much at stake to sit at home on election day.

Flashback – 2/6/08: Stanley Kurtz – Staying Home is Not an Option