It’s becoming fairly obvious that the Democrats are not on the same page when it comes to the Afghan War:
The eye roll said it all.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid emerged from the White House Tuesday with broad, bicameral smiles — until Reid put his arm around Pelosi to announce that “everyone” would support “whatever” Afghanistan policy the president produces.
Pelosi doesn’t agree with that — not at all — and the TV cameras captured the California Democrat rolling her eyes and slightly recoiling from Reid’s grasp as he spoke. Back at the Capitol, Pelosi made it clear to staff that she was angry about Reid’s unilateral offer of unequivocal support, a person familiar with the situation said.
Pelosi insisted Wednesday that it wasn’t so, telling POLITICO that she was “not upset,” adding: “I don’t know where you would have heard such a thing.”
Judge for yourself, here’s the video of the full statement (body language gets interesting around 4:30 in):
And of the famous “eyeroll”:
I think the body language there is pretty clear, don’t you ? As is the conflict between Reid and Pelosi:
[W]hatever the precise level of Pelosi’s frustration, this much is clear: If President Barack Obama decides to send more troops to Afghanistan, he risks setting off an internal party struggle on a foreign policy issue that may well define his performance as commander in chief.
Pelosi, reflecting the views of anti-war voters who gave Democrats the majority and of the progressives who elected her as speaker, has publicly expressed reservations about Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s calls for the deployment of 40,000 additional troops. And she resents his penchant for going public.
Although Pelosi is waiting for Obama to propose a strategy, she seems more receptive to the creation of a smaller force focused on anti-terrorism operations on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, an approach reportedly favored by Vice President Joe Biden.
Reid has maintained a far more open posture — and has refused to take a position until Obama lays out his long-awaited strategy for the 8-year-old war.
When it comes to foreign policy, Democratic unity would seem to be an illusion.
[...] on the imaginary and dream worlds of the modern subject. The method of the Arcades Project The Democratic Divide On Afghanistan – belowthebeltway.com 10/08/2009 It’s becoming fairly obvious that the Democrats are not on [...]