Is Extremism in the Pursuit of Failure a Vice?

Say Anything takes a closer look at CNN's latest poll on Iraq -- the one that CNN headlines 'Americans disapprove of Bush's Iraq veto -- and finds that the picture is not that simple. Rob notes that when you look more closely at the questions, you see the following:

A lot more poll respondents favor a bill from Congress with set benchmarks for Iraq rather than a hard withdrawal date which the Democrats wanted...

The sort of Iraq funding bill poll respondents favor most is one that does not set a hard withdrawal date...

Poll respondents think the President is very supportive of the troops while the Democrats....not so much...

Poll respondents blame the Democrats most for not getting funding to the troops...

This is worth paying attention to, if only because the Democrats seem convinced that extremism in pursuit of failure is no vice. In fact, President Clinton's former pollster Doug Schoen has been criticized for several pieces he wrote recently counseling Democrats not to overplay their hand:

It is the so called "clean bill" simply providing funding for the war that offers the greatest hope to Democrats going forward. By compromising with the White House--even if it be largely on the president's terms--the Democrats will be able to maintain the high ground with swing voters. At the same time, there is every reason to believe that Democrats can--and indeed should--continue to criticize the prosecuting of the war for its failure to promote political reconciliation, end sectarian violence, and develop an equitable distribution of oil revenue.

It seems unlikely that Congressional Democrats will reject Schoen's advice. That is, they seem likely to compromise with the president at some point soon. There's clearly a constituency however, for brinkmanship. If they overplay their hand, it could win up doing them significant and long-term political damage.