Key Democrats in Congress, frustrated by repeated failures to get troops home from Iraq, are backing away from fixed withdrawal timelines, hoping to win Republican backing for anti-war measures.
The move appears to be a sign the party has concluded that President George W. Bush's once-shaky Republican support in the US Senate has solidified, days before the White House unveils a critical report on the war.
Democratic Senator Carl Levin said he was considering legislation which would mandate withdrawals of most combat troops to begin within four months, but not, like previous bills, include a firm date for them to be completed.
The hope is that the approach could attract enough Republican senators to assemble the 60-vote Senate supermajority needed to pass major legislation.
"If that change would bring additional senators along so that we could overcome the filibuster which has thwarted us, as a majority, from accomplishing what we want to accomplish, I think that change in language is worthy of consideration," Levin said Thursday.
The latest twist in the Democratic campaign to get most combat troops out of Iraq, occurs ahead of a landmark congressional appearance on Monday and Tuesday by the US Iraq war commander, General David Petraeus.
Petraeus, joined by US ambassador to Baghdad Ryan Crocker, is expected to endorse an extension of Bush's "troop surge" strategy and argue it has made important strides in halting violence.
Levin said he was discussing the new approach with senior Republicans, including Virginia Senator John Warner, who is uncomfortable with Bush's Iraq policy, and called for some withdrawals by Christmas.
But it is still unclear whether Levin's new approach, which would simply set a "goal" of completing most troop withdrawals by early 2008, would bring along enough Republicans to thwart blocking tactics by their hawkish colleagues.
Even the idea of diluting wording on withdrawal timelines, is already sparking a hostile reaction from the Democratic Party's ferociously anti-war base.
"Rather than picking up votes, by removing the deadline to get our troops out of Iraq you have lost this Democrat's vote," said Democratic Senator Chris Dodd in a statement Thursday.
"I cannot and will not support any measure that does not have a firm and enforceable deadline to complete the redeployment of combat troops from Iraq.
"Only then will Congress be able to send a clear message to the president that we are changing course in Iraq, and a message to the Iraqis that they need to get their political house in order."
Dodd's comments reflected the simmering anger at the war he is encountering on the campaign trail, as he tries to vault into the top tier of contendors for the party's 2008 presidential nomination.
Democrats swept to power in November's legislative elections, partly on a wave of discontent about the four-year war, which has killed 3,741 US soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians.
But their leaders have been forced to explain to angry supporters that they simply lack the two-thirds majority in both chambers needed to override a guaranteed presidential veto of Iraq withdrawal legislation.
In the House especially, it is not just Bush's Republicans that stand in the way, as a block of Democrats from conservative districts cannot be relied upon to vote with the leadership.
Left-wing political action group MoveOn, which has for months mounted a campaign to get troops home, accused such lawmakers of cowardice in a message to supporters on Thursday.
"So why don't they have the votes? One reason is that there are a set of weak Democrats who side with the president -- especially on Iraq.
"They're too scared to fight for what's right and what they were elected to fight for."
