Tuesday, May 29, 2007 by CommonDreams.org The Republican Plan For 2008 Begins Today by Thom Hartmann It’s difficult to watch Democrats play checkers while Republicans play chess with Iraq. It’s particularly difficult on Memorial Day as more Americans and Iraqis die. But the Republican Party has been playing politics with Iraq since the day after the Supreme Court installed George W. Bush in office in 2001, and they have no intention of stopping now. They may have borrowed some techniques from Richard Nixon, but they have no intention of repeating his mistakes. The political calculus being pursued by Karl Rove and the Republican Party with regard to Iraq and the 2008 elections is a simple four-step process: 1. Shift ‘ownership’ of the downside of the ‘war’ and occupation of Iraq to the Democrats. 2. Begin to wind down American involvement in the occupation of Iraq no later than mid-2008. 3. ‘Claim victory and get out’ of direct combat in Iraq by the early fall of 2008. 4. Win big in the 2008 elections by having ‘won’ a ‘war.’ Step one was accomplished last week, when Republicans – particularly those most visible in our […]