OH-14: O'Neill (D) Endorses Responsible Plan to End Iraq War

Matt Stoller reports on Open Left that challenger Bill O'Neill (D-South Russell) has signed on to the Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq, spearheaded by Darcy Burner (D-WA) and now supported by 22 additional House and Senate challengers around the country.

I read about the Responsible Plan on Open Left last week and immediately contacted all of Ohio's Democratic Congressional challengers about it, as I indicated in my comment here. At the Take Back America conference this week I attended the "Out of Iraq" session where the plan was unveiled, and was extremely impressed with the thought that went into it and the fairly concrete nature of the proposal. [I also met Darcy Burner when we participated in a training session for candidates about using the internet to further their campaigns, and I told her then that I thought O'Neill was likely to commit. Hopefully some of our other challengers will also see the value in this proposal.]

Although the Iraq War isn't listed as the top issue in polling on voters' concerns recently, that is misleading because the war is intrinsically bound up with the economic collapse that now polls as the #1 issue. And voters continue to regard the war as a mistake by a large margin, and a majority want the troops to come home if it can be done in a reponsible manner. Hence, the enormous appeal and fundamental importance of approaching this issue in a direct, thoughtful, informed way.