US primary polls: Majority against Iraq war
It was really amazing to note the amount of publicity given to this particular event by the American media, both print and electronic. Prominent dailies, like the New York Times, the Washington Post and Washington Times accorded front page coverage on August 9. This stance of Lieberman's puts him at odds with the mainstream Democratic Congressional leaders who recently publicly urged President Bush to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq, and to move on to a more limited mission. On the other hand, Dick Cheney, the Vice-President, who began his political career during the Nixon administration, suggested that Lamont's victory might encourage the al-Qaida types who want to break the will of the American people in terms of "our ability to stay in the fight and complete the task." The Vice-President possibly did not follow the polls which show that, now, 60 percent of Americans want to end the mission in Iraq. Massachusetts Senator, Kennedy, blasted Dick Cheney by calling the attack "ugly and frightening."
The message of the election was loud and clear to other hawkish Democrats that the Americans have awakened. The people have become deeply disappointed and frustrated about the on-going war in Iraq and are going to hold them (Democrats) accountable at the polls. Hillary Clinton, Democratic Senator from New York, is one of the hawkish Democrats who also wanted to stay the course in Iraq, in line with President Bush. Hillary Clinton is on record saying that the United States should not set a deadline for troop withdrawal, and characterised Representative (Democrat) John Murtha's call for the immediate withdrawal of US troops as a big mistake. Hillary, and her husband Bill Clinton, went to Connecticut to campaign for Joe Lieberman. Polls show that as a majority of Iraqis want the US troops to leave, so do the majority of US voters, including 62 percent of the women interviewed. On August 8, Democrat members in the Senate declared support for Ned Lamont, an anti-war activist.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Joe Lieberman, however, is not a lone case in point. Other hawkish Representatives, Cynthia, Democrat, and Joe Schwarz, Republican lost in the primary race. Although Novak, a columnist, suggests that "the primary election defeat of Rep. Cynthia McKinney, and Rep. Joe Schwarz should not be over-interpreted as omens of a wholesale slaughter of the Republican Party", but the handling of the Middle East crisis, apart from the unprovoked war in Iraq, might have caused serious misgiving in the minds of the voters, irrespective of party affiliation, to change the course in the administration in America. It may be noted that President Bush and Senator John McCain (Republican) backed Joe Schwarz. The results of the primary elections made Hillary Clinton nervous, and she began calling for the resignation of Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, for his failure in the handling of the war in Iraq.
Americans are also annoyed with the Bush administration's one-sided attitude towards Israel at the cost of the American taxpayers' money. The biggest ever demonstration in Washington DC, on August 12, blaming both, Bush and the Israeli administration in Tel Aviv, for waging war against Lebanon speaks of the awareness of the Americans about the war in Iraq, and Lebanon as well.
The primary elections of the Democratic, and the Republican parties, reflect the general feeling of the voters that they are no longer prepared to support the war in Iraq, or for that matter in Lebanon, with their hard earned money. The war needs a huge amount of money, and the taxpayers are forced to bear. It has already cost over $3 billion and claimed 2601 American troops while 41 thousand have been injured in the battle field in Iraq.
On seeing the results, Vice-President Dick Cheney, and other Republican leaders, criticised the Democrats as being too liberal about the defence of the country from the threat of terrorists. But Democrat leaders are expected to win at least 15 seats in the House of Representatives as Connecticut represents strong anti-Bush sentiments. It is likely that the Democratic Party may gain a majority in the House of Representatives, but it is still doubt whether they gain majority seats in the Senate.
Ned Lamont's stunning victory over Joe Lieberman sends a clear message to American politicians that there is a progressive, and level-headed, new generation coming into politics. And many view these primary elections as a referendum on Iraq and President Bush's handling of the war.