House Dems Bribing Members For Anti-War Vote

According to this Washington Post story, House Democrats are trying to bribe members to vote for the bill ending the war in Iraq:

House Democratic leaders are offering billions in federal funds for lawmakers' pet projects large and small to secure enough votes this week to pass an Iraq funding bill that would end the war next year.

So far, the projects -- which range from the reconstruction of New Orleans levees to the building of peanut storehouses in Georgia -- have had little impact on the tally. For a funding bill that establishes tough new readiness standards for deploying combat forces and sets an Aug. 31, 2008, deadline to bring the troops home, votes do not come cheap.

But at least a few Republicans and conservative Democrats who otherwise would vote "no" remain undecided, as they ponder whether they can leave on the table millions of dollars for constituents by opposing the $124 billion war funding bill due for a vote on Thursday.

What will Stephanie Herseth do?

UPDATE:  "Um… I thought the Democrats had a 'mandate' on Iraq?  Why do they need to buy votes?"