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Source: Republican Senators Eyeing Support For Webb Troop Measure
We hear from a source familiar with ongoing Senate discussions that a few Republican Senators are considering breaking ranks with their leadership and supporting Jim Webb's troop-readiness bill, which would give troops as much time off as they spend in the war -- a measure that would slow the war down in a big way.
The source tells us that three Republicans who voted against the measure last time are now considering backing it: Senators George Voinovich, Lisa Murkowski, and Elizabeth Dole. This is significant, cause it could push the number of total "yeas" towards the magic filibuster-proof number of 60. Last time it got 56 yes votes, with seven Republicans backing it. More defections could be key, though the President would still veto the bill.
The source also tells us that Webb and the Dem Senate leadership have been working hard to woo these Republicans. For instance, we're told that Webb is adding language to the bill designed to address Defense Secretary Robert Gates' concerns about its implementation. Whatever else is going on with respect to Iraq in Congress, it looks like there may be movement on this front.
Late Update: The New York Times reported on Saturday that Voinovich and Dole are "reconsidering" their opposition to the Webb measure, and the paper throws another name in for good measure, reporting that Senator Arlen Specter may back it.
Don't forget that Tim Johnson missed the first vote so you can add one more to those who would likely support Webb's bill
September 17, 2007 3:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
I do not understand why this bill should not get solid support from all Senators. After all, what else could "Support the troops" possibly mean? The present system ruthlessly exploits the troops who have volunteered to serve our country.
September 17, 2007 3:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'll believe it when I see it.
The only thing more into sucking up to power than a "moderate" Democrat is a "moderate" Republican.
September 17, 2007 4:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
>>a few Republican Senators are considering breaking ranks with their leadership
That's nice. Maybe they'll actually do it this time.
Yeah, right....
September 17, 2007 4:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wouldn't count on Arlen. He always wimps out come voting time.
September 17, 2007 4:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
PLEASE CALL YOUR REPUBLICAN SENATORS TODAY.
For anyone else from New Hampshire:
Sununu 202-224-2841 (or 647-7500)
Gregg 202-224-3324 (or 225-7115)
(I usually call DC because I've found the local office workers to be...well, local office workers.)
PLEASE call your Senators.
Get up from the computer and call your Senators. Don't talk about it... Do it.
If they support Webb's amendment, give them kudos.
If they don't, give them hell.
Thx!
September 17, 2007 4:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Should the troop-readiness bill comes to a vote of the Senate, we might be surprized by the number of votes it receives. It seems simple: Vote for time off for the troops...or spend the next 15 months explaining your vote. Even if the bill loses, Democrats gain a club. (P.S. Webb for VP!)
September 17, 2007 4:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
"I'll believe it when I see it."
Well said and seconded, Captain.
September 17, 2007 4:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's a weird trio of Republicans reconsidering their opposition to this bill. I never would expect that big joke of a legislator Liddy Dole would consider backing it.
If they do pledge their support, good for them. We need the votes. I wonder if they'd also commit to overriding the expected veto.
September 17, 2007 4:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am waiting to see where my Senator (Susie Q. Collins, a.k.a. "the other Mrs .Lieberman) that is up for re-election next year will stand on this one.
Maybe for once she will do the right thing and REALLY support the troops, normally in that whinny voice of hers she is all talk and no action.
September 17, 2007 4:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Interesting. That's a completely different list of senators than the one I heard discussed at a big VA Democratic event a week and a half ago. There, the likely prospects (from Webb's staff according to the source) were reported to be Warner, Collins, and the always-unreliable Specter.
Maybe if we get enough of them wavering in the wind, a few will fall over. I'm not betting on it, but making them vote against it is still good strategy.
September 17, 2007 4:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
"I never would expect that big joke of a legislator Liddy Dole would consider backing it."
That tells you all you need to know about the attitude of military personel at Ft. Bragg, Camp LeJeune, and the various other military installations in the state. Rep. Walter Jones R-NC, he of Freedom Fries fame whose distric includes Camp Lejeune, saw the light quite a while back and has been pretty consistently voting with the House Democrats on matters concering Iraq.
It is becoming a matter of political survival.
Sen. Dole is a complete joke nonetheless, and will remain so.
September 17, 2007 4:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lucy's teeing up the football again and Charlie Brown's starting his approach . . . Gee, I wonder what's going to happen next . . .
September 17, 2007 5:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sen. Elizabeth Dole may be a laughingstock when viewed as a United States Senator, but she is also married to Robert Dole, who, if memory serves, is a disabled American veteran, and had a good record of supporting veterans when he was a Senator. So, maybe she listens to pillow talk.
September 17, 2007 6:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
There, the likely prospects (from Webb's staff according to the source) were reported to be Warner, Collins, and the always-unreliable Specter.
Didn't Warner vote for Webb's bill the last time around? My recollection is that he did, but it's only my recollection.
September 17, 2007 6:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
By delaying the vote on the funding of the war, the Democrats push the Republicans toward impending panic. This coming queasiness should help the Webb Amendment. The souring Republican gubenatorial hopes in Louisiana will also bolster the Democrats and surge the panic impulse among anxious Republicans! Of course there are those who would stay the Course!
STAY THE COURSE
Of course, we'll stay the course until every man is down! Then we'll enlist all of our daughters, and fight another round! When our daughters have all fallen on Iraq's barren ground, we'll send their squallin' younguns to die for Samuel clown! Legions of metallegged men will we then enlist, and all the poor Chicanos, Samuel insists! The mighty American daemon will never be put down until yesterday becomes tomorrow and the whiskey bills are found!
September 17, 2007 7:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, Sen. Warner supported Webb's bill the first time around.
September 17, 2007 9:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
At least they could quit funding those agitating missionaries from Blackwater.
September 18, 2007 12:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
When are Democrats going to figure out that the best way to end the war would be to pass a bill that disallowed any deficit spending on the war, and levied a war tax surcharge of $200 per person?
Republicans would have a harder time voting against that than any other measure.
September 18, 2007 1:07 AM | Reply | Permalink