CITIZEN ALERT v1.39REPUBLICAN WANTS TIMETABLE

Rep. Christopher Shays, a Republican from Connecticut, seems to have taken a cue from watching Lieberman go down for his pro-war stance and has come out saying that while he still supports the war in Iraq, he'd like to see a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops. His excuse is that this will help drive home the point that the Iraqi government needs to pull it together.

The Republicans have no where to go but down as the election draws closer and they've pumped the congressional agenda for September full on National Security issues where they feel they can out shine the Democrats. But this latest tidbit may be a sign that a few Republicans are getting cold feet and may flee slightly to the left in an effort to save their elections since the war has become an aggravation for most Americans.

Will the October surprise be the Republican party splintering as they do on the immigration issue? One can only hope. Democrats better not let up on their attack as I'm sure the Republicans will have plenty of little booby trapped pieces of legislation lined up for Democrats to vote on before the election.

I think I will look into voting absentee on this one, thus "banking" my vote for the Democrats, so they can concentrate their efforts on other potential voters.