WASHINGTON — The Iraq war is the most immediate foreign policy problem besetting the Bush administration. But as a political issue, the White House and top Republican strategists have concluded that the war is a clear winner.
GOP officials intend to base the midterm election campaign partly on talking up the war, using speeches and events to contrast President Bush's policies against growing disagreement among leading Democrats over whether to support immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops.
Bush's surprise visit to Baghdad on Tuesday -- and a lengthy Rose Garden news conference Wednesday in which he extolled the new Iraqi government -- mark the beginning of a planned months-long effort, which got an unexpected boost with the death last week of Abu Musab Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq.
"There's an interesting debate in the Democrat Party about how quick to pull out of Iraq," Bush said in the news conference Wednesday. "Pulling out of Iraq before we accomplish the mission will make the world a more dangerous place. It's bad policy. I know it may sound good politically."
Bush's comments underscored the renewed effort by the White House to regain its footing in the domestic debate over the war. It also reflected Republican strategists' calculation that although public approval of both the president and the continuing U.S. presence in Iraq have soured, Democratic disarray could give the GOP an advantage in November on an issue that once looked to be a major weakness for Republicans.
Republican lawmakers and strategists said Wednesday that the campaign to frame the Iraq debate would play out over the summer and into the fall, focusing on battleground congressional districts and states with competitive Senate races.
Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman has already sent an e-mail to 15 million supporters asking them to reject "craven, politically motivated demands for instant withdrawal."
Ed Gillespie, a former Republican National Committee chairman and a key White House advisor, conceded Wednesday that protracted violence in Iraq and voters' rising doubts "have had a dampening effect on the president's approval rating." But, he said, given a choice between Democrats' uncertainty and Bush's firmness, "that choice favors us."
The Democrats' divisions over Iraq came into clearer focus Tuesday, the same day Bush flew to Baghdad.
