Liz Elsewhere

Earlier this week, the U.S. Senate passed the fiscal year 2008 Defense Authorization bill.

It was a largely unremarkable event, except in two respects. The Democratic-moved bill contained no language to force President Bush to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq; and the bill passed by a 92-3 margin, with just two Democrats opposing it.

The vote should have the Democratic base, and anti-war voters, more generally, asking questions -- especially in Washington, home of Sen. Patty Murray.

Murray is one of the more prominent anti-war voices in the Senate, as one of the original 23 senators who voted against the 2002 resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq. She is also the fourth-ranking member of the Senate Democratic leadership -- and, thus, is looking increasingly ineffective in using her position of power to ensure that Democrats deliver on one of the core compacts with voters who elected them to congressional majorities last year: bring the Iraq war to a close.