Get ready for the Silence of the Dems. Once the war begins, none of the leading candidates or potential candidates will discuss it.

Democrats have a brand-new dilemma over the looming Iraq invasion: What should they say -- especially the half-dozen or so camped out in Iowa right now, crusading for the '04 presidential nomination -- once war breaks out?
Even some antiwar Democrats are insisting they won't criticize the Bush administration once the fighting begins. Massachussetts Sen. John Kerry, who has staked out a complex pro-disarming Saddam, anti-unilateral-war approach to the mess, says he'll hit the mute button immediately. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, a more unequivocal war critic than Kerry, also suggests he'll clam up once the shooting starts. War critics like former Sen. Gary Hart and Florida Sen. Bob Graham may postpone official announcements of their candidacies if war begins, as expected, in the next couple of weeks. Only Rep. Dennis Kucinich and former Sen. Carol Mosely-Braun, who are not given much chance of winning the nomination, have had the courage to tell reporters that they'll stick with their antiwar message come war.

Gary Hart has been clear the past two weeks that while he may decide to run for President, he won't decide until after the war, he won't criticize the war while its going on, and that because politics and war don't mix, he won't announce a candidacy until after the war.

We just heard a long live interview with Hart on Boulder's KBCO radio station and he repeated this. Hart has been very busy this week. Yesterday he gave a speech at the Denver Forum and signed books. This morning he was on the radio at 8:00 am. He's speaking tonight at the University of Colorado in Boulder. If you're in the area, come listen to him. It may be the last chance you get to hear his welcome views on war before he too clams up. Details here.