The November 2006 elections meant one thing, and meant it very clearly, the American people are tired of the same policies of the Bush administration. They demanded a change in direction to the President’s failed Iraq policy. To date, the Democratic Congress has not provided any change in policy. Considering the way Congress rolled over and acquiesced to the President’s demands after his initial veto, raises an important question: “was all that just for show.”

The answer to that question though, now appears irrelevant. Today’s Gallup Poll, brought to us by Election Central shows that American’s confidence in the Congress is at an all time low.

The current confidence rating for Congress — 14% — is the lowest in Gallup’s history for that institution. Although ratings of Congress have never been high, they were at the 40% level at the time of Watergate in the 1970s, and again in 1986.

Clearly the Watergate example is illustrative that Congress has the opportunity to gain public favor, and do so by standing up to this President, gone renegade. Now news and military reports are coming in and telling us that “Choosing Victory — The Surge” isn’t working as we were told it would.

If Democrats in Congress are going to stand up to President Bush it needs to happen with the next round of appropriations. The issues surrounding Iraq are clearly complicated, but Congressional Democrats need to force Bush to take a different direction. Americans are not going to tolerate watching their sons and daughters come home maimed or worse, dead, defending people from a civil war. The Democrats are the party of the people, the people want to see a change in the Iraq policy, and if there is no good solution, no good plan, they want their sons and daughters to come home, and not be markers in W’s game of international checkers (What, you thought he could actually play chess?).