The war in Iraq and the failure of democracy

The question has arisen: why is it that the War in Iraq, the central issue of the midterm elections, has been displaced by the Economy in 2008? Is it because, as some right-wingers have suggested, the Surge is working and things are getting better in Iraq, so people have stopped worrying about the conflict and moved on to domestic issues?

I doubt it. Rather, I think it is because people saw that making the war the central issue in the last election had no discernable effect on the war. The Bush administration simply thumbed its nose at the people's will, continued to fight the war as it damn well pleased. In short, the voters have decided that, when it comes to the war in Iraq, their votes don't work, mean nothing. In other words, they've seen that, just as it is in Iraq, democracy in America is a bit of a joke.

p.s. From a Washington Post story of 13 March: "During the last week in January, 36 percent of those surveyed said they were most closely following campaign news, while 14 percent expressed the most interest in the stock market and 12 percent in the death of actor Heath Ledger. In contrast, 6 percent said they were most closely following coverage of Iraq. "