I agree with you.
But lets face it - anti-Iraq is a bigger motivater for the mushy middle than most anything we could throw at it this year. Add in folks tired of corruption, and we couldn't motivate the middle to turn out for us.
So what IS the "real conservative" base's position on Iraq? Sure we were always against "nationa building", does that mean we are now in favor of forced deadlines and redeployments (aka cut and run)? Is the only position that we need to build fortress America in order to prevent terrorsm at our football games? Hey, the 2008 election is coming up and the base will have to have a postion on the war. Giving the mushy middle a loss and putting lipstick on the pig is what the Democrats will offer over the next 2 years. What's the base's position?