Compare and Contrast

This:

Protesters credit the summer vigil, which they say attracted some 12,000 people over the 26 days, with shifting American sentiment about the war. They said they returned to keep pressure on Bush to end the war, although they knew turnout would be lower during the holidays.

With this:

Seventy percent of people surveyed said that criticism of the war by Democratic senators hurts troop morale -- with 44 percent saying morale is hurt "a lot," according to a poll taken by RT Strategies. Even self-identified Democrats agree: 55 percent believe criticism hurts morale, while 21 percent say it helps morale.

The WaPo artilce goes on to mention that many polls show a majority of people supposedly think going to war in Iraq was a mistake, but also says that a recent poll shows only 16 percent of Americans support an immediate troop pullout.

I think part of the Sheehanites' problem is the tremendous amount of sympathetic media attention they get, which confuses them into thinking they have vast popular support, which they obviously don't. I believe Mark Steyn came up with a similar theory as to why having the MSM in the tank actually hurt Dems like John Kerry, so it's not like this is any groundbreaking analysis on my part, but I think it's an analagous situation.

Either way, this is a big problem for the Dems. Whatever they end up doing - especially in light of the Bush administration's recent pushback against war critics - they're going to piss a lot of people off. It only remains to be seen whether they'll alienate their moonbat base or the wider electorate.

(WaPo link via protein wisdom)

Update: Speaking of Mother Sheehan's vast popular support...