Democrats in tough Red districts who voted the right way today. (District partisan tilt in parenthesis)

Chet Edwards (R+18)

Nick Lampson (R+15)

Earl Pomeroy (R+13)

Ike Skelton (R+11)

Stephanie Herseth (R+10)

Brad Ellsworth (R+9)

Chris Carney (R+8)

Baron Hill (R+7)

Rick Boucher (R+7)

Nancy Boyda (R+7)

Ben Chandler (R+7)

Tim Holden (R+7)

Bud Cramer (R+6)

Allan Mollohan (R+6)

Collin Petterson (R+6)

John Salazar (R+6)

Zack Space (R+6)

John Spratt (R+6)

Melissa Bean (R+5)

Charlie Melancon (R+5)

Joe Donnelly (R+4)

Bart Gordon (R+4)

Steven Kagan (R+4)

Harry Mitchell (R+4)

Dennis Moore (R+4)

Ciro Rodriguez (R+4)

The PVI measures how much more Republican than the nation the district is. Bush's margin of victory the last two cycles combined is 2 percent. So a PVI of 4 means Bush won the district by 7 6 points.

Take a look at that list, and see how many of our representatives are deep behind enemy lines. We have 59 Democrats who represent districts won by Bush in 2004. Republicans have nothing like this, just a handful of reps in even marginal Democratic districts. That's why it's harder to keep our caucus in line than it is for them to do the same. It's also a sign that our party is stronger than theirs -- we can win in hostile territory. They can't.

So while it may be cathartic to take out aggressions on those Dems that abandoned the leadership on this bill, let's also give props to those who voted the right way despite representing tough districts.

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As I said yesterday, this is a message battle since our options to end the war with King George in the White House are slim. What we need to do is lay the foundation for overwhelming victories up and down the ballot in 2008, which would then give us the tools (i.e. the White House) to end this boondoggle once and for all. And on that front, this is what America is seeing today:

House OKs Timetable For Troops In Iraq (CBS News)

House Narrowly Backs Iraq Timetable (NY Times)

House approves end date for Iraq war (ABC News)

House OKs timetable for troops in Iraq (Houston Chronicle)

House approves deadline for ending Iraq war (Reuters)

The next batch of headlines will feature Bush's threat to veto Democratic efforts to end the war.