TO THE WOODSHED, JOE – AT 7:33 A.M. ET:  Just as the Dems turn their attention to rallying their 2008 base, which includes a sizable contingent of "anti-war" types (anti any war America has a chance of winning), Joe Biden inadvertently speaks some truths that can drive them into not voting:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. is taking a more cautious approach when it comes to next summer's planned military U.S. troop drawdown in Afghanistan.

He once predicted the drawdown next July would mean "a lot of people moving out," but he told ABC's "This Week" on Sunday that the number of U.S. troops leaving Afghanistan "could be as few as a couple of thousand troops."

President Obama ordered 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan last December, bringing the U.S. total to about 100,000.

Mr. Biden said it's too early to judge whether the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan will succeed, but he said there is progress.

A record 103 NATO troops were killed in June, the deadliest month of the nearly 9-year-old war for international forces.

COMMENT:  As Michael Barone has pointed out, the Dem base once thought of Afghanistan as possibly a good war, only because it viewed Iraq as bad, and therefore had to show a contrast with George W. Bush's priorities.   But the "goodness" has slowly faded, and the Dem left is back to its traditional role of opposing any U.S. war.

Afghanistan is going to be an enormous problem for the Obamans.  Obama can hardly deny what Gen. Petraeus says is needed for victory, but that may mean staying long after next summer's target for withdrawal. 

And if Obama succumbs to pressure from the base, the war can be lost, and he can be tagged as the man who lost it, unless he tries once again to blame BUSH (!!).  If he tries to blame Petraeus, he can wind up facing Petraeus in the 2012 election.

It looked so easy in 2008, ay Barack?

July 19,  2010