Majority Whip James Clyburn -- the No. 3 man in the House -- revealed something that just makes you truly sad for the state of the Democratic Party which was once represented by Harry S Truman and John F. Kennedy.

Many Democrats have anticipated that, at best, Petraeus and U.S. ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker would present a mixed analysis of the success of the current troop surge strategy, given continued violence in Baghdad. But of late there have been signs that the commander of U.S. forces might be preparing something more generally positive. Clyburn said that would be "a real big problem for us."

The "us" is not Americans. It's not Iraqis. It's not the military or coalition forces.

The "us" is Democrats.

Progress in Iraq is "a real big problem for" Democrats.

That's the position the Democrat Party has put itself in. The terrorists must succeed. Violence must rise. American soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines must die -- otherwise it's "a real big problem for" Democrats.