"Few Steps Back?" ***

Needless to say, between RCIA class and the Nats' game I didn't bother with the Donk debate last evening, but I'm a bit intrigued by the apparent uniformity in their inability to guarantee an instanter Iraqi pull-out:

The leading Democratic White House hopefuls conceded Wednesday night they cannot guarantee to pull all U.S. combat troops from Iraq by the end of the next presidential term in 2013.

Now part of this may just be born of a sense of responsibility when it comes to showing one's strategic hand to the enemy. But I got wondering if the fact that all the leading contenders said so wasn't some kind of concerted message aimed at the nut-roots crowd to cut it down to size. MoveOn made a serious blunder in going after Gen. Petreaus, and it strikes me that the Donks might have spotted an opportune time to distance themselves a bit, given that any potential nominee who is perceived as being MoveOn's beyotch has got about as much chance in the general election as George McGovern.

Just sayin'.

*** Spot the quote.

Yips! from Gary:
Dean Barnett is thinking along the same lines. In fact, it demonstrates the problem that the nutroots has - all bark and no bite.

Is that giant sucking sound you hear the air letting out of MoveOn.org's balloon of self-importance?

UPDATE: Jeez, what's the matter with you people? The quote is from The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly right at the beginning when Blondie jumps the three dudes about to whack Tuco! (Okay, it might be "Couple steps back?" but it's close enough for any true Spaghetti Western fan.)