To understand the challenge facing Democrats who tomorrow will be in charge of oversight of the Iraq war, consider Congressman Adam Smith. Smith, the veteran Tacoma Democrat, will be the chairman of the Armed Services Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities.

In that role he will be in charge of authorizing key spending for the war. And he says he sees little future for the U.S. in Iraq. He told me earlier today he is "close to thinking the right answer is to pull us out." What stops him from joining calls for a quick withdrawal is the remaining conversations around the Iraq Study Group report and other discussions about war strategy.

It may only be a matter of time then. And already Smith wants to use his new chairmanship to push for a reassessment of the administration's Iraq strategy. He will have purview over spending on special operations forces, and he questions whether it's smart to let Iraq monopolize those elite troops. Smith said those forces may need to be redeployed to Southeast Asia, Africa or Latin America.

"When you look at the global war on terror, it is, in fact, global. ... And now a fair number of our eggs are in the Iraq basket. We need to ask, 'What aren't we doing? How are we weakening ourselves elsewhere because of the Iraq strategy?' "

But even as Smith — who voted for the war — leans toward an Iraq position that would hearten liberal, anti-war Democrats, he worries about the party's national security reputation. He says Americans have "long-term concerns" about that:

"I think it's fair to say the Democratic Party has national security problems. We want to show that Democrats are as smart, tough and focused on protecting this country as Republicans were, and we have not always done that."