WASHINGTON - Congressional Democrats are turning to more populist, economic themes like mortgage foreclosures and big oil companies’ profits now that military progress in Iraq is generating mixed political reviews.
Even when they talk about the war, Democrats often highlight its drain on the economy. One top senator called the new emphasis “a turning point in our argument against this war.”
Polls find Americans increasingly worried about the economy and their grip on middle-class privileges such as home ownership. Meanwhile, the issue that galvanized the Democratic base in 2006 and much of 2007  the Iraq war  has grown so muddied that Republicans seem equally happy to discuss it, a turnabout that caught Senate Democrats off guard this week.
Often using populist rhetoric, Democratic lawmakers are focusing on voters’ anxieties and resentments, such as drivers’ anger over paying high gasoline prices while oil companies make huge profits. The House this week approved $18 billion in new taxes on the five biggest oil companies despite protests from the Bush administration.
“We are at a time when …
