Judging by the reaction of the New York Times and Washington Post editorial pages, one would think that Jed Babbin's characterization of this deal as a "near-total win for the White House" is perhaps not that far away from the truth. The title of The Post's editorial ("The Abuse Can Continue") reveals just how far away they are from the average American on this issue. People on the street don't see these interrogations of terrorist suspects as "abuse" but rather what our operatives "have to do" to get the job done and to protect us from Islamic religious fanatics determined to kill as many innocent Americans as possible.

Liberals will hate the analogy to "24," but at the end of the day large portions of the public see this debate as between those trying to give the America's Jack Bauers the legal protection to do what is necessary to keep Americans safe, while opponents play the role of bureaucratic suits and elitists more concerned about what the rest of the world might think. It is a straw man thrown out by critics of the President to say that this is about the "rule of law," because the entire process the White House has engaged in has been all about the "rule of law" and getting the people's representatives in the House and the Senate to pass a bill the President can sign into law.

And now with McCain and Bush on the same page, Democrats are in a very uncomfortable position politically, given there is an election in a little over a month. Do they side with the President or with the New York Times and the Washington Post? It is a classic lose-lose situation.

Democrats would have been better off having McCain and Warner side with the President immediately and just allowed this bill to pass without much of a fight and move on.

McCain is now in a supreme position to really deliver big time for Republicans, and if he backs the compromise and President Bush 100% Democrats are going to get the screws put to them politically. And, if they make the very unwise decision to fight Bush and McCain on this interrogation issue, the entire election could change dramatically, and not in a direction that will make Democrats happy when they wake up on November 8th.