During his State of the Nation address Tuesday, President Bush tried to persuade Congress that his “new” plan for Iraq – the centerpiece of which is dispatching 21,500 more troops into harm’s way – will be better than the “old” plan. But Democrats on the Hill aren’t buying it, and neither is most everyone else.

A couple of GOP presidential hopefuls did come to Bush’s defense. Arizona Sen. John McCain and former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani – claimed giving Bush breathing room is, as McCain put it, “the only game in town.” That’s hard to believe. What happened to the report by the Iraq Study Group? Did that suddenly pick up and leave “town,” along with the suggestions of Bush’s generals in the field?

Although Bush drew praise from friend and foe alike (and more than a few newspapers, including this one) for his comments on climate change and conserving fuel, the response to his stubborn “stay the course” mentality on Iraq has been overwhelmingly negative.

First out of the box was Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia, whom Democrats chose to deliver their formal response to Bush’s speech. Webb, a Vietnam veteran and former Republican Navy secretary, is one of the few in Congress who actually has a child serving in Iraq. He didn’t mince words: “The president took us into this war recklessly. He disregarded warnings from the national security adviser during the first Gulf War, the chief of staff of the Army, two former commanding generals of the Central Command. ... We are now, as a nation, held hostage to the predictable — and predicted — disarray that has followed.”

Even if Bush didn’t get the message voters sent in November, some of his fellow Republicans did. At least they are pragmatic enough to surmise if they continue supporting Bush’s failed policies, they might follow into oblivion those colleagues who were booted from office.

The proponents standing firm with McCain and Co. are rapidly dwindling, and the remaining loyalists usually offer up the same lame claim that if the U.S. “fails” in Iraq, we’ll be “fighting the terrorists in our streets.” They have no proof of that, but these stiff-necked blinder-wearers refuse to admit just the opposite may be true. America HAS failed in Iraq, and a continued U.S. presence in that area of the world virtually guarantees that eventually, someone WILL try to bring it to a neighborhood near you.

Even Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, the Army general slated to carry out Bush’s “new” war plan, acknowledged the situation is “dire.” That’s about as close as he could get to criticism, unless he wants to be removed from command like so many other high-ranking military folks. But more and more top generals in both the Army and Marine Corps are telling congressional committees they have grave doubts about the situation, even if only because relocating so many troops to Iraq makes the U.S. vulnerable elsewhere in the world.

But Bush isn’t listening to the commanders – and if he dismisses their opinions, he certainly won’t give much credence to what the rest of us say. And the rest of us are saying plenty. A number of polls released in the past few weeks reveal support for the war and Bush in general continues to erode. Only 44 percent of Americans consider Bush honest, and 66 percent think the country’s on the wrong track. Disapproval of Bush’s handling of Iraq is at 65 percent and falling.

For those who bother caring what the troops think, they’re becoming more cynical about the war, too. Recently, 1,171 service members signed the Appeal for Redress, beseeching Congress to support the prompt withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Opinion polls of the soldiers themselves show support for the cause is rapidly eroding – about half what it was two or three years ago. More are deserting or refusing to deploy every day. As one captain said on a Web site for troops (with particular emphasis toward media types): “Show me someone who still supports the war, and I’ll show you someone who doesn’t have a family member serving.”

What about the Iraqi people? Even the ones who aren’t trying to kill our troops say they’re out of patience. Only the Shiite “puppet government” the U.S. finagled into office wants us there, and it’s becoming clear they view our soldiers as private bodyguards, acting as shields for their overarching mission to suppress the Sunni minority.

Last but not least, there are the world church leaders, who are a hair’s breadth from singing from the same hymnal on a given subject – for the first time in modern history, some say. Christian leaders of every stripe – Roman Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox, Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Church of Christ, First Christian, and more – are clamoring for an end to the war, insisting the continued loss of innocent life is morally unacceptable. It’s no longer a “right” vs. “left” issue, they say, but rather “right” vs. “wrong.” A few key Southern Baptists, the only denomination originally supportive of the war, have even begun to defect.

Americans have lost 3,065 troops in Iraq. These are our sons and daughters, husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, who leave behind inconsolable survivors of an incomprehensible war. That doesn’t count the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis caught in the crossfire.

Democrats need to act fast. That’s what the majority wants, and last time we checked, the majority is still supposed to rule here.