Is Bush's Iraq Policy Extreme?

SAW AN INTERESTING mailer today from Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, a Republican member of Congress from Pennsylvania facing a touch challenge from Patrick Murphy, a Democrat and an Iraq War vet. Earlier this month, Fitzpatrick sent out a mailer arguing for a 'better, smarter plan in Iraq.' A plan that:

"says NO to both extremes: No to President Bush's 'stay the course' strategy...and no to Patrick Murphy's 'cut and run' approach."

What? So now we have Republicans calling Bush's strategy 'extreme'? This certainly is a change from even a few months ago. Of course, it's not just Fitzpatrick who's changing his tune on Iraq. Shays (CT), Sen. Lindsay (SC), and Sen. McCain (AZ) have all begun testing new talking points on the war -- talking points that sure don't sound like they were written by Dick Cheney or Rummy.

This new Republican descant may be in response to several new polls recently released that show that, for the first time, a majority of people surveyed found no linke between the war in Iraq and broader war on terror. That means that a majority of people surveyed now reject the core foreign policy argument of this administration!

Just Inside the Beltway is going to monitor what Republican incumbents are saying about the war between now and November. Let's see to what lengths some will go to save their job. Calling Bush's policy 'extreme' is a pretty good start.

If you know of other incumbents (Republicans or Dems) who are changing their tune now that elections are coming, send them along and I'll post them.