The president will speak at 9pm EDT/6pm PDT tonight to announce as though it's news what we've known for a while: that he will draw down troops to pre-surge levels by next summer. John Edwards will be airing a 2 minute rebuttal to President Bush's statement at 9:53pm EDT on MSNBC. TPM has an excerpt:

Update [2007-9-13 20:55:57 by Todd Beeton]: Looking at excerpts of Bush's speech, it appears he's intending to sell himself as a uniter, asking that the country come together behind his Iraq strategy.

"The way forward I have described tonight makes it possible, for the first time in years, for people who have been on opposite sides of this difficult debate to come together." [...]

"Whatever political party you belong to, whatever your position on Iraq, we should be able to agree that America has a vital interest in preventing chaos and providing hope in the Middle East," the president said.

He added, "Let us come together on a policy of strength in the Middle East."

Is he kidding with this? Pelosi has responded:

"The American people long ago lost faith in the president's leadership of the war in Iraq because his rhetoric has never matched the reality on the ground," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "The choice is between a Democratic plan for responsible redeployment and the president's plan for an endless war in Iraq."

Senator Jack Reed will deliver the official Democratic response to Bush's speech and is expected to say:

“…Tonight, a nation eager for change in Iraq heard the President speak about his plans for the future.

But once again, the President failed to provide either a plan to successfully end the war or a convincing rationale to continue it.

The President rightfully invoked the valor of our troops in his speech, but his plan does not amount to real change.

Soldiers take a solemn oath to protect our nation, and we have a solemn responsibility to send them into battle only with clear and achievable missions.

Tonight, the President provided neither…”

As a point of reference, Talking Points Memo summarizes the latest AP poll on Bush's handling of Iraq taken during and after Petraeus's testimony in front of congress. No doubt there will be new numbers in the coming days to see if Bush managed to move his numbers at all, so good to keep these baseline numbers in mind:

* Only 33% approve of the President's handling of Iraq

* Only 40% approve of his handling of foreign policy and terrorism

* Only 33% approve of his overall job performance

In all three cases, the numbers went up one or two points from last month -- statistically meaningless changes.