Week After the Election Update

Just saw the results of an AP poll which shows that although more Americans see Iraq as the number one priority of the new Democratic Congress, a majority said the Democrats don't have a plan for the war.

While voters in Election Day surveys said corruption and scandal in Congress was one of the most important factors in their vote, the postelection poll showed that 37 percent of all adults said the war in Iraq should be at the top of the congressional agenda during the next two years. The issue of terrorism, the second most mentioned priority, was ranked highest by 15 percent of those polled.

Though voters apparently embraced the Democratic mantra of changing course in Iraq, a majority of the public did not detect a clear Democratic blueprint for ending the war. Fifty-seven percent of all adults in the AP-Ipsos poll said Democrats do not have a plan for Iraq; 29 percent said they do. The poll of 1,002 adults has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

The fact that Democrats don't have a clear Iraq plan shouldn't be shocking, but the fact that much of these same people voted Democrats into power while regarding Iraq as a top issue should make anyone scratch their head. Change for the sake of change?

John Rodon, a retiree from Green Bay, Wis., said the situation in Iraq is "a big mistake" and voted for a Democrat for Congress. He doubted, however, that the Democrats would solve the war.

"I don't think anybody has an answer for this," he said.

There are some who have some ideas that they would like the Democrats to adopt, like this one from a Jupiter man:

Francis Curran, a 43-year-old carpenter from Jupiter, Fla., said he thinks Democrats would approach Iraq with a better lens.

"You can't solve that problem without involving the other players in the region. I think Democrats might be more willing to at least not call (Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) the Axis of Evil," Curran said. "I don't know if the president would go with this, but this administration has to involve other nations in that region."

On second thought, not calling the Iranian president evil is, well, downright dangerous. Wanting to negotiate with someone that merely wishes for the end of western civilization only makes sense to those that wouldn't mind a world dominated by lunatics such as Ahmadinejad.

Speaking of the Democratic congress, looks like the political infighting has already begun, and we're barely a week past the elections. Let's keep our eyes on this one.

Murtha or Hoyer.

I get the feeling the fun has only begun, folks.