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The Surge DirgeCongressional Democrats hate the surge. But they don't dare try to stop it.

By John DickersonPosted Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2007, at 7:11 PM ET

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Kennedy may find more allies on the House side. On Sunday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi hinted that Democrats might cut off funding for the troop increase when Bush makes his supplemental budget request to keep the war going. John Murtha, who chairs the defense appropriations committee, where the supplemental would be debated, is planning to hold hearings within a week to pick apart the president's plan and perhaps put forward his own surge-killing legislation to limit funding and troop levels. (The White House no doubt regrets treating Murtha so roughly when he suggested a troop redeployment.)

Democratic leader Reid says the funds-limiting option is still on the table and could come after the bipartisan resolution. Democrats are also noodling other options, including a measure floated by Robert Byrd to rewrite the October 2002 authorization-of-force resolution that opened the door for the Iraq invasion of 2003.

Time matters if Democrats want to take forceful action. Going after the supplemental funding bill will take too long. That request from the administration isn't likely to arrive until early February. By then, troops could be on their way and the question would flip from being about a future action to one already under way. "The horse will be out of the barn by the time we get there," says Kennedy. "And then we'll be asked, are we going to deny the body armor to the young men and women that are over there?"

Republicans are confident that Democrats won't take any drastic action. "It would reinforce a perception in the country," said Sen. Lott on Tuesday. "We want men and women in the military to have what they need." A senior White House aide sounds just as confident: "I think Pelosi leaned out a little too far in her talking points." But just in case they go forward, Lindsey Graham is pre-emptively making the harshest charge—suggesting that those in Congress who would vote against a surge "are definitely sending a signal to terrorist organizations that they're winning."

Those are just the kind of attacks that worry some Democrats. After his speech, Kennedy was asked about Republicans who are prepared to escalate the rhetoric so quickly. He scoffed. It was the Bush administration that had imperiled America's national security, not Democrats. "If you have a candidate and they can't explain that," he said of future Democrats, "they don't deserve to get elected."