The Hammond Report

Democrat Washington Representative Denis Baird is feeling the heat for changing (gasp!) his stance on the war in Iraq and supporting Bush's Surge strategy.

A month after Baird, a Democrat from Washington state, switched his views on Iraq and embraced President Bush's surge strategy, he remains persona non grata in many circles.

At home, he is besieged by angry protesters and hostile ads.

There is no room in the Democrat Party these days for difference of opinion! He must be discredited and driven off.

I give Rep. Baird a lot of credit because he had to know that he would be attacked by the extreme left wing that influences his party and tried to unseat Joe Leiberman.

«There were a few who felt I undermined the message, but I could really care less,» he said Tuesday. «Some were mad at me that I was going off message. In fact, even some of the people who had been pro-war said that to me. ... They were so quickly jumping to criticism of someone with a different position. It's unfortunate that we're being driven by such an extreme wing right now.»

Baird argued that the anti-war faction of his party allowed no room for alternate approaches.

«They are driving the agenda far too much, and it's the wrong direction for this country,» he said. «We all agree that we can't stay forever there, but how we withdraw and when we withdraw and why we withdraw matters a great deal to our own security, the legacy we leave in Iraq and our public image internationally.»

Hang in there Mr. Baird. Your doing the right thing.