Saturday evening I attended an Eric Massa house party on the shores of the enchanting Keuka Lake.  It was very well attended, with about 60 people there to  listen to and support (for the most part) our congressman, who speaks truth to power in spite of the consequences.  As per his usual ability to move the crowd, Eric was able to infuse the room with enough energy to make everyone there want to empty out his checking account in order to finance the re-election campaign for this man of the people who will not be getting any corporate funding from MVP, Excellus, Bristol-Myers Squibb, or Haliburton.

Of the many topics the congressman discussed, Afghanistan was top most on many of our minds.  Eric made the statement that one of the things which colored the president’s decision to send more troops, is that the most likely candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, in 2012, is General David Patraeus.  From the Gaurdian.UK.com comes Michael Tomasky’s blog.  He discusses Obama’s decision:

… looked at politically, his decision to expand the war has been inevitable for weeks. Here you have a liberal Democratic president who probably did not receive 51% of the votes of top Pentagon brass (although he did better among rank-and-file soldiers). Post-Vietnam Democratic presidents are always tugged by the urge to win the approval of that laurelled cohort. Even more so in this case, when one member of the high military brain trust, General David Petraeus, looms as a possible Republican presidential candidate in 2012, and when a substantial portion of the public doesn’t even think the president is a “real” American.

In that context, that Obama wasn’t going to go against his generals was predictable. Whether the plan will work is a topic for the future. In the present, what’s observable is the fascinating political dynamic his decision sets up.

I’m not sure that this is a good reason to move in a direction which escalates this war.  In fact, I think it’s a bad reason.  The political dynamic which is established is not a pretty picture for our side.  (read the whole article)

What do you think?

Related posts:

1. Eric Massa on Afghanistan, Enough!
2. On the Bill Press Show, Eric Massa “Calls ‘em as he sees ‘em”.
3. It’s Official: Obama wins New York!
4. Happy Birthday, Eric
5. Eric Massa interviewed by City. Here’s the Health Care part.