Steny Hoyer's gotten hold of a wayward "Dear Colleague" letter from GOP Reps. John Shadegg and Peter Hoekstra that shows a little too much leg (PDF):

We are writing to urge you not to debate the Democratic Iraq resolution on their terms, but rather on ours. Democrats want to force us to focus on defending the surge, making the case that it will work and explaining why the President's new Iraq policy is different from prior efforts and therefore justified. We urge you to instead broaden the debate to the threat posed to Americans, the world, and all "unbelievers" by radical Islamists. We would further urge you to join us in educating the American people about the views of radical Islamists and the consequences of not defeating radical Islam in Iraq. The debate should not be about the surge or its details. This debate should not even be about the Iraq war to date, mistakes that have been made, or whether we can, or cannot, win militarily. If we let Democrats force us into a debate on the surge or the current situation in Iraq, we lose.

I've decided to help you find the key nugget, with a little bolding. Didja catch it?

If we have an upperdownvote TM on the escalation, Republicans lose.

Because nearly everyone in America opposes it, including a significant number of the Republicans who received this letter. And if there's a straight-up vote on it, they lose.

So naturally, the Republican plan is: try to make the vote about something else.

News flash, fellas. There is nothing else. The war is everything, and piece by piece we will have our votes, and you will lose them.

"Elections have consequences."