His new position is a significant break among Republicans in Bush’s firewall on the war going into the November elections. When Shays called the Iraqi desk at the National Security Council to alert it of what he calls “an evolution in my thinking,” he assured the staffer on duty that he remains “strongly supportive of what I see as a noble cause.” But Shays has his re-election to think about. He’s in a tight race with his Democratic opponent, who’s casting the contest as a referendum on the war. Two thirds of the voters in Shays’ Greenwich district think it was a mistake to go into Iraq. But, says Shays, even antiwar Democrats don’t really want to get out right away: “Our positions are not that far apart.” He’ll find out in November whether his constituents agree.
–Eleanor Clift
