SEN. SCHUMER: Well, I think the bottom line is that the president will have no choice but to begin a withdrawal come this summer or fall of 2007. And that’s why I think the 2008 election, Tim, is going to turn on a positive platform. That’s what I’ve written...
MR. RUSSERT: Not Iraq.
SEN. SCHUMER: Not Iraq. I think we do have to discuss how to deal with the war on terror in the future. But I think that the president has shown so little veering from this plan, which is a disaster, that by 2000--early 2008, even he is going to be forced to withdraw troops from Iraq.
Oddly we'll still be in Iraq next November, soldiers will continue to die until then, though hopefully the lower casualty rates remain, there will be no substantial troop withdrawals, and the pony will not magically appear.
Still we can expect a Democratic establishment telling candidates "don't mention the war" once again.