Bob Novak: GOP leaders say party can't go into '08 with troops in Iraq

http://www.suntimes.com/news/novak/158824,CST-EDT-novak04.article

Iraq report spells trouble for Bush

December 4, 2006
BY ROBERT NOVAK Sun-Times Columnist

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At the core of Bush's Iraq dilemma is the fact, still denied at the White House, that the president has lost his political base on the overriding issue of the war. In contact mainly with fawning campaign contributors, Bush may not appreciate the steady decline in support of his war policy that I have seen deepening among Republicans in the last year.

This undercurrent of GOP protest roared to the surface with the party's election debacle Nov. 7. At the Republican grass roots, there is no question that Iraq lost the election. State officials and party leaders who are no specialists on foreign policy tell me the Republican Party simply cannot go into the 2008 campaign with troops still fighting in Iraq.