There’s that “surge” word again…. So, before I get to my major point, let me begin at the proverbial beginning of my inspiration for this diary entry.

Now, be honest. Regardless of who your favorite Presidential candidate might be, weren’t you really delighted when Wes Clark recommended a “smart surge” of diplomacy in his recent article* opposing George Bush’s proposed military surge in Iraq?

I certainly was, for several reasons.

First of all, I firmly believe that withdrawal from Iraq without a plan is no better than invasion of Iraq without a plan. In other words, we need a plan, people. We really do. Arrogance and ignorance have gotten us where we are today. Wes Clark understands that there are many other governments and many millions of people with a stake in what will happen next. He also realizes that we certainly do not have all the answers, including the best answers to the questions as to when and how we should bring our troops home. His call for vastly increased regional diplomacy is not just noble. It is virtually essential to the restoration of our lost credibility in international affairs.

Yes, we might avoid more American casualties by beginning a withdrawal tomorrow. If we can achieve some sort of diplomatic consensus that supports such a withdrawal, I am all for it. However, we would be foolish to believe that a unilaterally determined American withdrawal would necessarily be in our best long term interests. I truly wish that we could confidently predict that that would be the case, but I'm afraid that such confidence is no more justified than was Donald Rumsfeld's confidence that he knew where the WMDs were. Just because we got into this fight through arrogance doesn't justify us leaving it in the same fashion. Let's face it. Like it or not, we are the current occupiers of Iraq. Therefore, we owe it to everyone in the region to try our best to help bring Iraq peace, justice and stability. We cannot do that through military means alone. Hence, we must demand a “smart surge” in diplomacy, just like Wes Clark has been calling for since practically forever.

To their credit, other Democrats and even a few Republicans are finally also calling for some sort of diplomatic surge. Don’t get me wrong. This is nothing against any of them - they are all civic-minded, intelligent, committed, respected public servants; and I, like most of you, am delighted to see them all now “surging” to find a way out of the mess the Republicans (and, sadly, many Democrats) have enabled for far too long. Frankly, I hope they can grow so much political strength that Bush/Cheney will decide to reverse course, admit that they have really blown it, successfully re-deploy all of our troops to whatever friendly soil they can find outside Iraq, and jointly win the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for successfully carrying out the “smartest surge” of diplomacy the world has ever seen!

I am really serious about that, although I know it’s about as likely as two monkeys flying out of Kos’s ….. So, if you will please stop laughing, I would now like to get to the real point of this diary.

‘It’s the surge, stupid.’ Or rather, the possibility of the greatest Democratic surge in my lifetime; and I was already in college way back when Goldwater was defeated. And here’s the happy surprise for all of you who have read this far. I’m now nearly finished with this diary entry. That’s because there is already an extremely cool article describing the surge I have in mind. You should all read it. It’s at:

http://fighting-dems.us/Newsletter/2007/01/18/the-great-democratic-landslide-of-2008/

Once you’ve enjoyed reading that, please indulge me by surging back over here and sharing your thoughts on which potential Presidential candidate you think might have the best chance of leading the Democratic Party to a landslide victory in 2008.

“O wise men, riddle me this: what if the dream come true?” Patrick Henry Pierce

* http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/9898