The grassroots abscence on Afghanistan

Forgive me if this is obvious. But it's been striking me how absent the left grassroots is on Afghanistan these days -- and this at a time when many congressional Democrats are out there publicly questioning the President on his policy.

In the more progressive territory, you have the Congressional Progressive Caucus and Russ Feingold, who want a pretty radical shift in policy, and moving toward a troop withdrawal not too far down the line. But even some rather moderate Dems -- like Feinstein and Harman -- say they are a bit skeptical on sending more troops.

Beyond the electeds, it's also worth noting the writing of Bob Herbert, who is for moving toward a troop withdrawal. The Nation is also good on this. In the traditional media, they're still stuck in a narrow conversation of how the war should be conducted. Not surprising.

Where is the left grassroots, though? MIA. ANSWER had a march here in DC in March, and only a few thousand people showed up. UFPJ doesn't have much visibly going on, to put it nicely. MoveOn doesn't do Afghanistan for the most part these days. They, and the netroots, are focused on healthcare and climate change and other issues (I mean, not that any issue is unimportant).

Public opinion polling on Afghanistan is relatively impressive -- in a number of polls, a plurality say the war is "not worth fighting" or similar things. And that's probably part of why many Dems feel emboldened to question the Administration's plans and question sending more troops.

I'm glad the public is as progressive as it is on Afghanistan. I don't see any evidence that any kind of grassroots organizing played any part in getting the public where it is, though. Not sure where this all leads.