The war is not lost.

Senator Harry Reid recently said that the war in Iraq is lost. The truth is that he doesn't care whether the war is won or lost. All he cares about is making statements that convince the 10% of his constituency who are the activists, the people who actually vote in a primary, that he agrees with them and that he is on their side. This is the wrong thing to do for two reasons.

First, leaders should lead. By only expressing the opinions that opinion polls tell him his constituents want to hear right now, Reid is abdicating any roll as a leader.
Leaders should lead. They should not just follow what the small number of people who actually participate in opinion polls say they want to hear. Only about 10% of the voters actually vote in primaries. They are the extreme activists. He should not only listen to them and the people polled.