The Iraq Trap: 37% Re-elect number for Republican Senators who support Bush

The trap:

A trap is waiting for Republican incumbents and presidential contenders should they continue to back Bush on the Iraq war, according to a new poll by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research. September might be their last chance to convince voters that they have truly rejected Bush’s strategy should he ask for more time based on General David Petraeus’ report on the 15th.

Oh, but there is an escape hatch for desperate Republicans:

“If the politicians don’t bring the troops home, the voters will bring the politicians home. Ultimately, Bush’s PR machine is no match for the news coming out of Iraq every day. Americans do not want to see their troops caught in the crossfires of a many-sided religious civil war that cannot be won by US military intervention,” said Tara McGuinness, Deputy Campaign Manager for Americans Against Escalation in Iraq.

What's the bottom line about Iraq?

“Iraq is the number one issue affecting how people plan to vote,” said Anna Greenberg, Senior Vice President at Greenberg Quinlan Rosner. Of the seven incumbent Republican senators up in 2008 from the states selected for the poll, she continued: “With a collective 37 percent reelect number, every one of these Republican senators could be at grave risk.”

What is Bob Schaffer's view on Iraq?

Schaffer staunchly backs George Bush's failed Iraq policy, as well as Bush's defeated plan to privatize Social Security. He voted against a bipartisan plan to secure our nation's airports after 9/11, supported an extreme water referendum that was overwhelmingly defeated by Colorado voters, and even praised a controversial college that bans interracial dating.

And what is the "good" news out of Iraq that Republicans who have to face voters in November, 2008?

This? Up to 500 dead in Northern Iraq bombing

This? Army suicides highest in 26 years

This? Surge Progress report to be written by White House

Or this? U.S. to label Iranian Guard "terrorist group"

None of the news is good for Bob Schaffer -- or Republicans in the Senate.

Will Colorado voters see Iraq as the issue it is today? Only time will tell. Until then, Bob Schaffer has a hell of a lot to think about as he tries to become a Republican senator in the Time of Bush.