THE O'HANLON/POLLACK OP-ED WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING!

Or, er, maybe not. Here's Jake Tapper on ABC (video link):

Both Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill said, when asked what impact this op-ed would have, "Zero." They said, "Do you think members of Congress are going to go back to their constituents who are asking 'When are you going to bring our boys home?' and say, "Well, hold on a second. Read this New York Times op-ed'? They said that's not realistic.

Good point.

More from Tapper's blog:

I hate to rain on anyone's parade, but regardless of the merits of the op-ed, I don't think it will be the "tipping point" that supporters of the surge strategy hope it will be.

One Republican Senator's office told me the surge is a failure, op-ed or no op-ed, based on the Bush administration's own July 15 progress report.

Said another GOP Senator's office: "the time for the surge was four years ago." That Senator had not read the op-ed by Monday afternoon.

Many Republicans say the issue is that US troops are policing a civil war -- not whether or not General David Petraeus is a good commander. The debate no longer seems to be about the surge, but the mission.

And Democrats? Well, many just want the troops out, regardless of what "military-led dog-and-pony show" O'Hanlon and Pollack were taken on, in the words of one Democratic congressional aide.

I think Tapper's overlooking the fact that certain Americans will already have had this op-ed pre-digested for them by Limbaugh and his ilk; they're going to feel their worldview has been definitively validated. But if Congress is unimpressed, that's good.