On the October 24 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, host Chris Matthews asserted that Democrats have no plan for Iraq and then asked rhetorically: “Do you know what the difference is between a grown-up and a kid?” Matthews then suggested that to be “grown-up,” Democrats have to “sit in the front seat and drive the car.” Earlier, when Republican strategist Ed Rogers said that Democrats “don't offer an alternative” to the current strategy in Iraq, Matthews replied, “I agree with you on that.” In fact, Democrats do have near-consensus on a strategy in Iraq. In a vote held in June, a strong majority of Senate Democrats supported initiating the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, despite disagreement over how soon that withdrawal should take place. Thirty-seven Democratic senators voted for a nonbinding amendment sponsored by Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Jack Reed (D-RI) that called for the “beginning of a phased redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq by the end of the year” and urged the administration to submit to Congress a plan for continued redeployment beyond 2006. Six Democratic senators voted against the amendment, and one did not vote. Media Matters for America has noted that Democrats have laid out plans for the future of U.S. military involvement in Iraq and other national security issues, and also that many media figures often ignore them or mischaracterize them using Republican talking points.
In addition, more Americans believe that Democrats “have a clear plan to solve the country's problems” than believe that Republicans do, according to a recent public opinion poll by CNN. Citing the poll's results on the October 24 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, host Wolf Blitzer said that "[w]hen asked which party has a clear plan for solving the country's problems, 38 percent say the Democrats do," adding that this was a “seven-point edge over Republicans.”
According to an October 24 report on CNN.com, the poll also found that “63 percent of poll respondents said they believed Democrats could provide strong leadership, compared to just 49 percent who expressed confidence that the GOP would keep a firm hand on the wheel. And while 50 percent said they doubted the Republicans' leadership capacity, only 35 percent expressed the same doubts about Democrats.” The poll's margin of error is +/- 3 percentage points.
From the October 24 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews, which also featured Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen:
MATTHEWS: OK, let me ask you the question: If you're against the war in Iraq, how do you express it in the voting booth? If you're against the war in Iraq --
ROGERS: If you're against the -- if you're against the war --
MATTHEWS: -- if you think it was a big blunder -- if you think it was a major blunder to go in there, how do you vote?
ROGERS: -- well, then, you have options. You have -- you have options. You have options to cut and run --
MATTHEWS: No. How do you vote?
ROGERS: -- or to manage a bad situation.
[...]
ROGERS: But the Democrats don't offer an alternative. They really don't. They just say, “We hate Bush. We hate what's happening in Iraq.”
MATTHEWS: Right. I agree with you on that.
ROGERS: “Vote for us.” They don't have an alternative. And when they do, it's -- it's capitulate; it's -- it's cut and run.
[...]
MATTHEWS: I'm amazed at the silence of the Democratic Party. It is still highly silent compared to 1994 when Newt had a plan.
ROSEN: Well, you -- you might be right, but --
ROGERS: Exactly. Exactly.
ROSEN: -- but what is happening now is Republicans are running away from the war faster than the Democrats did and --
ROGERS: But the Democrats --
ROSEN: -- they're not going -- they're not going to succeed with that.
ROGERS: -- the Democrats' only message is: “We hate Bush.” Is that enough? Is that enough?
ROSEN: Mike DeWine today wasn't going to say he was for the war anymore.
MATTHEWS: Do you know what the difference is between a grown-up and a kid? You got to sit in the front seat and drive the car.
ROGERS: Thank you.
MATTHEWS: Thank you Ed Rogers and thank you Hilary Rosen.