Hey, Maybe We Do Oppose the Surge

David Weigel | February 8, 2007

I was all set to malign Sen. Chuck Hagel after he chucked months of anti-war bravado and voted against bringing the Senate's anti-Iraq surge resolution to the floor. But look: Hagel is one of seven Republicans threatening to make that vote happen, by hook or by crook.

In a letter distributed yesterday evening to Senate leaders, John W. Warner (Va.), Chuck Hagel (Neb.) and five other GOP supporters of the resolution threatened to attach their measure to any bill sent to the floor in the coming weeks. Noting that the war is the "most pressing issue of our time," the senators declared: "We will explore all of our options under the Senate procedures and practices to ensure a full and open debate."

The letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was not more specific about the Republican senators' strategy for reviving the war debate. But under the chamber's rules, senators have wide latitude in slowing the progress of legislation and in offering amendments, regardless of whether they have anything to do with the bill.

It's still practically nothing, but it reveals a certain antsiness in the GOP skeptic's corner that wasn't there a year ago.

Comments

|2.8.07 @ 10:00AM|#

Don't worry, Mitch McConnell will give them a dirty look and they'll fold.

Brave, maverick Republican moderates always do.

|2.8.07 @ 1:54PM|#

joe,

Usage tip: use "stink eye" in place of "dirty look." It has a more jauntily contemptuous tone.

mw|2.9.07 @ 12:38AM|#

I think Warner, Hagel, and the "gang of 7" sincerely want to get to a 60 plurality on a resolution. Even if they all voted for cloture, they did not have enough Republicans. So they backed off when asked, played ball to get a few more votes and put it on the leaders plate to get it done. Essentially saying - "we'll stay in line for this vote, on the expectation that you are going to work it out." The leadership let them down, they are pissed, and there is no tether anymore. They are "open loop" from this point and no longer manageable by the leadership of either party. Should be fun to watch.
I'll admit to spending a ridiculous amount of time watching c-span this week, I don't know what happened to me and why I got so fascinated by this debate. Maybe I just got old this week. Anyway - the most interesting bit was the exchange between Lieberman, Hagel and Warner on Monday about "non-binding resolutions". My youtube take on it here.