You think that politics isn't at the foundation of the Democrats' stand on Iraq?

It all comes down to politics. The House leadership is trying to come up with a new bill on the Iraq funding. The Out of Iraq Caucus members feel that they went as far as they could in voting for the last bill; they weren't happy with voting for any funding for the war at all, but they voted for it because of the timetables and dates for withdrawal, not to mention the pork that was thrown in to win some other votes. Now that it's clear they can't get any bill including dates for withdrawal signed by the President, they have to come up with an alternative. And they don't think that they're going to pick up many GOP votes.

If they lose the votes of the Out of Iraq'ers, they'll have to fall back on moderate Republican votes which might weaken what Pelosi wants in the bill. So that puts her in the position of having to pressure Democrats to hang together. Her pitch: if you don't vote the party way, we'll lose our majority.

One Democratic lawmaker with close ties to Pelosi, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Pelosi has made clear in repeated discussions with lawmakers that without unity on Iraq, the party cannot hold its newfound majority and enact its ambitious legislative agenda.

"It would be the easiest thing in the world for me to give the president what he wants and vote no," the lawmaker said. "But it's not good for the party."

You'd think that a vote concerning war should be left up to the members' individual consciences, not their partisan concerns, but that's not how Pelosi sees it.