The Surge Speech: Pick A Link

A fresh start. A bold move. A new commitment. A last chance. A bit too late. A horrible mistake.

Wherever you fall on the wide spectrum of reaction to the President's speech, someone else is out there with you. So where do you fall?

• The New York Times predicts a epic clash between Bush and the Dems. It's a big gamble and he's betting his Presidency on it. "It's more than a risk, it's a riverboat gamble," said Leon E. Panetta.
• Missouri Congressional Democrats are expectedly divided. The AP wraps it all up. The most interesting comment comes from Rep. Jo Ann Emerson who is "skeptical of this stratagem."
• Headline Watch: ABC: "Mistakes Have Been Made, Responsibility Rests With Me." ABC is reporting that some of the 20,000 troops have already arrived.
• FOX: "President Sets Course for Different Victory"
• CBS: "Bush Orders Troop Buildup In Iraq"
• CNN: "Bush Admits Mistakes, Deploys More Troops"
• MSNBC: "Situation . . . Unacceptable"
• New York Times: "Bush Adds Troops in Attempt to Secure Iraq"
• Chicago Tribune: "Bush Takes Blame in Iraq"
• Los Angeles Times: "Admitting failures, Bush Sends More Troops"
• Washington Post: "Bush to Send More Than 20,000 Troops to Iraq"
• Andrew Sullivan says if Bush had asked for 50,000 troops, he'd be with him.
• Drudge headlines "This Plan Can Work"
• Our Governor's favorite presidential candidate has put out a statement on Iraq, and agrees with the President. The Hotline (of course) has got it.
• Rudy Giuliani is pro-surge. And yep, The Hotline has it.
• Sen. Sam Brownback abandons the Prez on this one. "I do not believe sending more troops to Iraq is the answer." Politics1.com reports.
• Newsweek's Howard Fineman says the President's face showed fear. Fineman writes, "a picture is worth a thousand words. And the words themselves weren't that assuring either."
• Mike Duffy of Time is less harsh, but calls Bush's plan "sketchy."
• Redstate.com makes a mistake in only reading the speech, and not watching it. I was told early on by a wise veteran journalist that in order to cover a speech, you always must watch it in the same environment most regular people would. And in this case, that means watching it, not reading the text.
• National Review Online asks if Bush declared war on Iran and Syria? MSNBC's Chris Matthews was hot on this question as well.
• Washington Monthly wonders, is there really anything new here?
• 25% of Americans believe Bush has a clear plan for Iraq, according to Gallup.
• CBS had a pre-speech poll, showing 45% of Americans supporting a troop surge.
• Rasmussen says just 31% of Americans support the boost in troops.

I could do this all night. Enuff already. So what say you?