Here's a full list of the senators who voted to protect President Bush and block debate on Iraq, along with their public disapprovals of Bush's escalation plan:– Sen. John Warner (R-VA): "Sen. John Warner (R-VA) will introduce a resolution today 'making clear that he does not support the President on increasing the troop levels in Iraq' and calling escalation 'a mistake,'."
– Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE): "It's Alice in Wonderland. … I'm absolutely opposed to sending any more troops to Iraq. It is folly." (Cosponsored Warner resolution.)
– Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR): "This is the president's Hail Mary pass. … We are extending an ineffective tactic to further the status quo." (Cosponsored Warner resolution.)
– Sen. John Sununu (R-NH): "Sen. John Sununu told CNN Tuesday he will not support President Bush's plan to send an additional 21,000 U.S. troops to Iraq, although he hasn't yet decided whether to back a Democratic resolution opposing the move."
– Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME): "We should not place more American servicemen and women in harm's way to instill a peace that the Iraqis are not willing to seek for themselves." (Cosponsored Warner resolution.)
– Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS): "I do not believe that sending more troops to Iraq is the answer. … Iraq requires a political rather than a military solution."
– Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA): "We're all looking for a plan that will work. … The current plan is not working, and 21,500 additional troops — it’s a snowball in July. It’s not going to work."
Notably, Sens. Norm Coleman (R-MN) and Susan Collins (R-ME), who say they oppose escalation, resisted partisan pressure and voted against the conservative filibuster.
It's hard to see how these senators got talked into this. It's a huge blunder -- this is certain to come back to haunt them. Not only is the war unpopular, but so (predictably) is the surge. This will be so easy to use to portray them as trying to straddle the issue.
Sam Brownback's running for president, BTW. Yeah, good luck with that...
Tags: news | politics | senate | Bush | republican | elections | 2008 | Iraq | troop surge
