Michael Reagan: Rather than allow Bush to get “credit for ending the war in Iraq,” Dems prefer to leave Iraq “in play at least through the 2008 election cycle so that they can use it as a wedge issue”

Written by Ben Armbruster

Published

Introducing an interview with conservative radio host Michael Reagan on the November 13 edition of Fox News' Your World, host Neil Cavuto claimed that President Bush is “reaching out to congressional Democrats for ideas on how to handle Iraq,” but that according to Reagan, “Democrats really don't want to see the problem solved because they do not want the president to get the credit.” Indeed, Reagan asserted that Democrats “don't want this president to get the credit for ending the war in Iraq at all,” adding that Democrats would prefer to “make Iraq stay in play at least through the 2008 election cycle so that they can use it as a wedge issue to, in fact, win the presidency in 2008.”

As purported evidence that Democrats don't want Bush to receive “credit,” Reagan pointed to Sen. Patrick Leahy's (D-VT) opposition to the National Security Agency's (NSA) warrantless wiretapping program and the USA Patriot Act. Reagan did not explain how the Democrats' position on these bills, which do not deal with Iraq, supported his argument.

From the November 13 edition of Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto:

CAVUTO: Well, President Bush also reaching out to congressional Democrats for ideas on how to handle Iraq. But if my next guest is right, Democrats really don't want to see the problem solved because they do not want the president to get the credit, credit like President Ronald Reagan and Republicans received for ending the Cold War. With us now to explain is President Reagan's son, Michael Reagan. So, Michael, you think the Democrats just don't want this president to come out of Iraq OK?

REAGAN: They don't want this president to get the credit for ending the war in Iraq at all. I mean, look at what happened over the weekend. You got what? You got Leahy out there wanting to throw the NSA program under the bus. You have Leahy out there also wanting to throw the Patriot Act under the bus. You got [House Democratic Leader Nancy] Pelosi [D-CA] throwing [Rep.] Steny Hoyer [D-MD] under the bus, [Rep. Jane] Jane Harman [D-CA] under the bus. [Rep.] Alcee Hastings [D-FL] may be driving that bus. This does not look like a way to win the war in Iraq; it looks like a way, in fact, to make Iraq stay in play at least through the 2008 election cycle so that they can use it as a wedge issue to, in fact, win the presidency in 2008.