How does an intervention in a caucus work? This needs to be answered because the House Republicans need one, and very soon.

In the past three weeks I have spoken on air with every member of the GOP leadership: Republican Leader Boehner, Republican Whip Blunt, Republican Deputy Whip Cantor and Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Caucus Tom Cole. Each is a solid conservative, and each is strong supporter of victory in Iraq.

And none would utter even the mildest criticism of their GOP colleagues who are in the process of deserting the war effort, “emboldening the enemy,” to use Congressman Cole’s words, and sending a message to American allies and yes our enemies that the desire to cut and run now has bipartisan support.

Two weeks ago Senator Mitch McConnell skillfully led his chamber’s GOP caucus away from the edge of political ruin. Senate rules gave McConnell an advantage Boehner does not enjoy: McConnell could block a vote if only 40 Republicans would join with Joe Lieberman to refuse to allow defeatism to go official. Senator McConnell gathered more than enough votes, and the 32,000+ signatures at TheNRSCPledge.com helped get the attention of waverers who might have thought a little political cover a useful thing. The victory Republicans in the party’s base made it clear that there are no “free votes” on the war. It is one of at most two issues –the other being Supreme Court nominees—for which political absolution down the road is not an option.

The House does not play by the Senate’s rules, and Democrats will get their up-or-down vote on their white flag resolution. GOP leadership’s ill-conceived effort to try a Bud light version of the Democrats’ telegram to terrorists of fading American will was abandoned after it became evident that this was simply not an option with the base. That was the good news.

But then, incredibly, the leadership chose not the “whip” the vote. That means they decided not to lean on Republicans who have soured on the war and who are declaring for defeat.

The outrage that had been directed at the Senate’s waverers only two weeks ago is now building and erupting against not just the round heeled Republicans, but also with much more fury at the leadership.

One of the original organizers of the Porkbusters’ effort, N.Z. Bear has now opened up The Victory Caucus, and sign-ups to engage in activism directed against the GOP’s defeatism are pouring in. While the Victory Caucus will be devoted to much more than political activism –there are links to key organizations supporting the troops like the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund and SoldiersAngels, as well as news feeds on the war and key media clips—a clear emphasis will be on focusing the political energy of the millions of Americans who understand the stakes in the war and want those stakes articulated and defended on the Hill.

And right now that means facilitating the connection of the furious with the furrowed brows among GOP leaders on the Hill. It seems clear that the GOP leadership is simply oblivious and wholly out-of-touch with the party’s base. The leadership seems not to understand that it cannot be understood to be serious about the war if it is not serious about this resolution, and it cannot be serious about the resolution if this is a “free vote” for which Republicans defecting to the Democrats feel no political pain.

Congressman Tom Cole has the unenviable job of trying to put the GOP majority back together again. What he is hearing tonight after an appearance on my program yesterday is that his NRCC isn’t going to be getting any help from thousands of Republicans and independents who simply will not send money to an organization that will support the re-election of Republicans in the House who vote for the Democrats’ resolution. Whether Congressman Cole is genuinely unaware of the sentiment in the grassroots, indifferent to it, or simply unsure of how to respond doesn’t really matter. The NRCC is going to wake up on Saturday with a resentment against the House Republicans that is set in concrete.

The anger with the GOP leadership isn’t over the fact that the GOP is going to lose the vote.

It is very much a result of the fact that the GOP didn’t fight.

The tone-deafness among the Congressional leadership is astonishing. And it goes much deeper than just this vote, though this vote is a neon sign flashing incompetence the size of the Goodyear blimp. In my interview with Cole (transcript here), the Congressman stated that the NRCC wasn’t ready to roll out a list of targeted districts, that it didn’t want to “bless” candidates in primaries even if those candidates were veterans of Iraq or Afghanistan, and that generally, he understood the dilemma of Republicans voting for the Democrats’ resolution.

My lines and e-mail box were instantly filled with missives from voters in the Tucson area who know all too well that the NRCC did in fact take sides in a GOP primary there in 2006 and who are deeply bitter about it. This illustrates that in the new media world, Congressmen have to be very careful to always convey the absolute truth. I am sure Congressman Cole intended to say that he didn’t think it was a good idea to play in primaries, but it came off as though the Beltway elite could once again head fake the grassroots.

Congressman Cole’s somewhat condescending platitudes on candidate recruitment also set off listeners. These are people who have donated hundreds and thousands of dollars over the years to Republican candidates. They don’t want Marcus Welby telling them to take two aspirins and call in a couple of days, or to assure them that it is too early to start campaign 2008. Continued...