That person should, by all rights, be you.  You alone of any  major candidate running in either party had the prescience and honesty to oppose invading Iraq.  You understood the disaster that would unfold.  This gives you credibility--as well as intellectual and moral authority-- that no one else on the national stage possesses.

And you used that authority wisely by introducing legislation to mandate withdrawal on Iraq back in January of this year.  And you have been a good team player on this issue as Democrats, a functional minority in the Senate, tried to forge a consensus.  Harry Reid is the 'team' leader, and he has been entrusted with handling the ball on Iraq.

However, Senator Reid has dropped the ball on Iraq (forgive the mixing of football and basketball metaphors).  Senator Reid, for all of his strengths, just isn't getting the job done.  He is a competent work horse, but he isn't a star.  He isn't a difference maker.

You are.

And, when it comes to crunch time, star players and difference makers need to take over.  The truly exceptional leaders are not just willing to step up and take the important shot, they demand the damn ball.

This is your time to do so.  Iraq hangs in the balance.  Republicans are wobbly.  Unfortunately, so are your fellow Democrats.   The talk increasingly is of both sides holding hands and enacting pro forma leg