So maybe this is what the president means by sacrifice: The Evans-Novak Political Report says that George W. Bush's Iraq speech "backfired" and that a "sense of impending doom" now "clutches Republican hearts." Want to hear more? The report says a "nationally prominent Republican pollster" has told Republican members of Congress that "if U.S. boots are still on the ground in Iraq and U.S. blood is still being spilled there at the end of the year, the GOP disaster in 2008 will eclipse 2006."

Tim Grieve