Both Matt Yglesias and Kevin Drum discuss the need for the Dems to come together and decide on a plan for Iraq.

Yes, I believe the Dems need to craft a unified message and proposed resolution re Iraq. However, they need not take the same crap again from the GOP! A memo was recently leaked revealing that the Republicans plan to go to the well again and use the tactics that worked for them in '04: paint the Dems as weak on terrorism, not supportive of the troops, and quitters when it comes to Iraq. In other words, Swift Boat them on Iraq. Karl Rove is obviously still alive and well within the party machine.

In response, what the Dems need to do is forcefully and convincingly illustrate that Iraq is a mess and a complicated quagmire. But even more so, they need to state in brutally explicit terms that it's a Republican debacle, made possible by a Republican administration that lied and distorted intel to get the votes needed in Congress to invade Iraq. (If you still don't realize that the intel shown to Congress was not the same as that which the administration possessed, click here). There has been ample proof showing the administration twisted intel to fit the desired policy (Downing Street memos, Richard Clarke, Colin Powell quotes, to name a few).

Voters should hold the guilty party accountable by tossing them out. Yes, again, Iraq must be dealt with and like the federal budget, the environment, international relations, and so many other things that are currently broken and need fixing, the Dems will have to eventually be the party of repair. Like a huge forest fire set by an arson, the fire eventually is extinguished but the arson must pay dearly and be brought to justice. The Republican apparatus set this fire we know as Iraq and they did so purposefully via the use of manipulative, deceptive, and treasonous tactics.

The Dems need to assert this message clearly and strongly. An appeal must be made to the voters' sense of justice, and what is fundamentally right and wrong. To elect or re-elect Republicans is to reward their misdeeds. America has a long tradition of punishing those who commit wrongful acts and the truly patriotic thing to do is to kick these bums out who are members of a group (party) that would perpetrate and silently support (and not investigate) such heinous acts.

Dems should've done better in '04, but if they do poorly this time around, they're lost.