Yes!, a NEW feature on this site. Every month I will award a "Machiavelli" to the person who displays 'Outstanding Political Acumen.'
I was going to wait until the end of the month, but I'll just start prematurely with the first recipient of the award.
And the Machiavelli goes to....:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid!
[Cheers]Why he won: As majority leader, Reid organized the overnight debate and vote in the senate over withdrawal from Iraq. From a Machiavellian standpoint, this was absolute genius. A number of Republican senators recently had been defecting from the President's position in Iraq because...well, they'll probably be voted out of office if they hadn't. Despite the "bravery" of openly and belatedly proclaiming that everything in Iraq wasn't peachy pie, most were not willing to push for immediate withdrawal.
In response, Reid put them on the spot, forcing them into an all-night filibuster. Republicans were forced to either vote for immediate (actually by April 2008) withdrawal or support the president. Since most of those Republicans really wanted some make-believe middle course, they were not happy about having to take sides. Most decided to prevent an open vote and continue the filibuster, which can be translated to support for the President's war.
The reason why this move was so brilliant is that it forces the Republicans in the senate, and Republicans in general (including presidential candidates) to become attached to Bush's wildly unpopular position in Iraq. Additionally, it strengthens Democrats credentials as the 'get out of Iraq' party, which is politically wise. To prevent compromise measures that would have allowed Republicans senators to separate themselves from Bush, Reid announced that there wouldn't be any more debate on Iraq until September.
Well done.
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