The Democrats Have a Problem

Cindy Sheehan.
During the roundtable this morning on FOX News Sunday, Bill Kristol said that Cindy Sheehan is not the Republicans’ problem. She is the Democrats’ problem.
He nailed it.

The Dems and the liberal media are embracing Cindy Sheehan. They want her to be the face of their anti-Bush agenda.

Andrea Mitchell, sitting in for Tim Russert on Meet the Press, said words to the effect that Sheehan was a serious problem for the President. Mitchell talked about the images of his motorcade speeding by Sheehan’s protest and what a PR disaster it was. Then, she trotted out poll numbers that show sagging support for the war in Iraq.

In the same segment, EJ Dionne asserted his excitement for Sheehan’s protest. He seems to believe that Sheehan is managing to single-handedly do profound damage to public support for the administration’s Iraq policy. Dionne echoed Mitchell’s remarks, saying that Bush must meet with Sheehan if he wants to stop the bleeding.

Byron York countered this by revealing that Sheehan is not just a grieving mom, a lone voice pleading to speak with the President. She is a tool of the Dems, joining ranks with Joe Trippi (manager of former Howard Dean's presidential campaign in 2003 and 2004), Bob Fertik (Democratic strategist of democrats.com), and Jodie Evans (activist and a leader of Code Pink).

Joe Trippi has their conference call posted on his website.» Conference Call Audio

Without question, libs have latched on to Sheehan. She is the face they’ve been looking for to represent their agenda.

As Kristol pointed out, that’s a problem.

Sheehan is not just expressing her grief for her son and her concern for our troops in Iraq. If that were the case, I'm sure Americans would support her overwhelmingly. As the President said, Sheehan has the right to say what she thinks.

However, it's important to note that her agenda, meaning the Dems' agenda, goes much, much further than disagreeing with the Bush administration’s policy regarding the Iraq war.

Sheehan is a member of the fringe Left.

She is among those that insist the war is about oil. She thinks it’s a venture that was cooked up to benefit Bush’s rich Halliburton buddies. She believes that the U.S. is occupying Iraq, not liberating its people. She thinks the troops should come home immediately. She decries America’s support of Israel. She wants Bush impeached.

This morning, Drudge reports:
BUSH PROTESTING MOM CALLS FOR 'ISRAEL OUT OF PALESTINE'; VOWS NOT TO PAY TAXES

Anti-war protestor Cindy Sheehan, whose soldier son Casey was killed in Iraq, is calling for Bush's "impeachment," and for Israel to get out of Palestine!

"You get America out of Iraq and Israel out of Palestine and you'll stop the terrorism," Sheehan declares.

Sheehan, who is asking for a second meeting with President Bush, says defiantly: "My son was killed in 2004. I am not paying my taxes for 2004. You killed my son, George Bush, and I don't owe you a penny...you give my son back and I'll pay my taxes. Come after me (for back taxes) and we'll put this war on trial."

"And now I'm going to use another 'I' word - impeachment - because we cannot have these people pardoned. They need to be tried on war crimes and go to jail."

The 48-year-old California mom remains tented up in a ditch along the one-lane road that leads to Bush's Texas ranch.

As her protest entered its second week, hundreds of people with conflicting opinions about the war in Iraq descended on the area.

TIME mag reports in new editions on Monday: Sheehan gets support from her surviving son, Andy, in principle, but he recently sent her a long e-mail imploring her, "to come home because you need to support us at home."

Sheehan's rhetoric is that of the most extreme of the Leftist extremists.

If Sheehan embodies the beliefs of the Democratic Party, then the Democrats are for cutting and running from Iraq.

If she is what the Democrats are about, then they want to abandon Israel.

If she speaks for the Dems, then they think Bush and members of his administration should be jailed for war crimes.

Just as Hillary is trying to move to the center, to appear more moderate to appeal to Red State America, Sheehan is disrupting that effort by acting as the spokesperson for the Dems. With the Dems' blessing, Sheehan is leading the party to the edges of the fringe.

If the Dems want to be the Party of Sheehan, they can’t at the same time be the Party of Phony Moderate Hillary.

Cindy Sheehan is definitely a problem---for the Democrats.