Dear Dems: Stop reading from Rove's playbook on Afghanistan

It's sad that this needs to be said, but Democrats need to stop reading from Karl Rove's playbook when talking about the Afghanistan war.

GOP Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah is one of only a dozen Republicans who voted against funding the Afghan war in the House yesterday. But his Democratic opponent, Karen Hyer, tells the Salt Lake Tribune that this is akin to deserting the troops:

She agrees the war should start winding down, but she said the Republican's vote against this funding was "irresponsible" and described it as "the grandstanding of an inexperienced freshman congressman." Hyer believe the funding is necessary to continue and conclude ongoing missions. "We should support our men in uniform who are currently in harm's way," she said.

Over 100 Democrats voted against funding the war yesterday. Are they not supporting our "men in uniform"?

The reason this matters is that it goes far beyond this one case. As the debate about Afghanistan heats up, and as the anti-war position gains steam, more and more pro-war Dems are going to find themselves tempted to indulge in this kind of rhetoric. Keep in mind that the DNC did just that earlier this month.

This is in part a by-product of the current political situation: A Democratic president has not taken ownership of a major foreign conflict the way Obama has with Afghanistan in a generation, since Lyndon Johnson's escalation in Vietnam. So Dems will find themselves uncertain about how to conduct this argument with each other. But Dems who favor continuing the war need to resist the temptation to read from Rove's script at all costs.

Opposing the war is not tantamount to failing to support the troops -- even when Democrats are the ones making this ugly charge. Those who are against the war argue that the troops are in an unwinnable situation -- no matter how brave and tough they are. Casting the anti-war position as anti-troop pollutes our discourse, makes any substantive discussion about the war's wisdom impossible, and validates the longtime Republican tactic of painting Dems as weak on national security.

Look: This is not some Beltway game, where Dems get to pat themselves on the back because they cleverly turned the tables and used Republicans' rhetoric against them. It was unacceptable when Republicans did it, and it's unacceptable for Dems to do it, too. Whenever it happens, it needs to be called out.

Look at me, ma, I can talk like Karl Rove, too! Pathetic.

