Senate showdown over Iraq looms

After victory in the House of Representatives, the Democrats efforts to impose a deadline for troop withdrawals from Iraq face there toughest test yet in the Senate.

It was a vote which could the the first in a long list pitting Congress against the President and was a major victory for the Democrat leadership. Now it will face it's next test where victory could rest on as little as one vote. Republicans are under increasing pressure to break ranks with the White House and they are showing some signs of cracking. Sens. John Sununu (R-N.H.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Norm Coleman (R-Minn) and Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) .) all face reelection next year and are feeling the pressure from an increasingly anti-war electorate. What is more Bush is widely seen as undermining his own position, making the question a clear-cut one thus rallying wavering Democrats. Tom Matzzie, the Washington director of MoveOn, said "Bush is our worst enemy and our best ally." Even if he does veto the bill it will be a huge victory if the Democrats can get it as far as his desk and will probably make the rest of his presidency pretty redundant.