When dissent becomes obstruction

In the US Civil War, 'Copperheads' in the North nearly defeated Lincoln's effort to save the Union. Today's Democrats are similarly guilty.

from the March 30, 2007 edition

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The bill they passed is a disgrace, but it is certainly in the best Copperhead tradition. It is a variant of what some call the "slow bleed approach": tie the president's hands while avoiding the responsibility that would go with an action that is within Congress's constitutional authority – cutting off spending for the war.

The principle that once Congress funds a military force, it has no further authority to direct or limit its employment was established during the administration of President Adams and the Quasi-War against France (1798-1800). Congress's action in this case is clearly unconstitutional.

What helped save Lincoln politically was the fact that there were "war Democrats" who contested Copperhead control of the Democratic Party. Sadly, Copperhead behavior has become institutionalized in today's Democratic Party and among a disturbingly high proportion of that party's voters. Democrats who can challenge the Copperhead influence are few and far between.

The Associated Press called last week's vote in the House to order the troops home by next year "a triumph" for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She must be so proud.

Democrats may well pay a high price

But Democratic Party leaders should heed a cautionary note. The late 19thcentury Democratic Party paid a high price for the influence of the Copperheads during the Civil War, permitting Republicans to "wave the bloody shirt" of rebellion and to vilify the party with the charge of disunion and treason for years after the war.

The actions of the Copperheads radically politicized Union soldiers, turning many Democrats into lifelong, stalwart Republicans. Many Union soldiers came to despise the Copperheads more than they disdained the Rebels. As the Democrats were reminded for many years after the war, the Copperheads had made a powerful enemy of the Union veterans.

Americans are clearly dissatisfied with the progress of the Iraq war. But most Americans do not want to see the United States defeated in Iraq. And there are encouraging signs that the US troop surge in Baghdad is working. Because of the perception that defeat – not victory – is the goal of today's Copperheads, the Democratic Party may well pay the same price as its predecessor did after the Civil War.

• Mackubin Thomas Owens is a professor of national security affairs at the Naval War College. The views expressed here are his own.

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