Democrats’ Summer Recess Iraq Ads Target 12 Swing District Republicans

[Janett_Reno]

http://www.cqpolitics.com/2007/08/de...ss_iraq_a.html

Despite frequent statements by President Bush and his political allies that U.S. troops are making progress in the Iraq war, the conflict remains highly unpopular among most Americans. A CBS News-New York Times poll conducted July 20-22 showed 69 percent of respondents disapproved of Bush’s handling of the war, and 66 percent said the war was going somewhat to very badly.

And Democratic strategists for the 2008 congressional elections clearly believe Iraq is an issue that works to their party’s benefit — as underscored by radio ads, calling for a “new direction” in Iraq, that the Democrats’ national House campaign organization is running during the August congressional recess in 12 districts represented by Republicans who are being targeted for defeat next year.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) on Wednesday began airing radio ads during “drive time” in the 12 districts. These include Connecticut’s 4th, where veteran Republican Rep. Christopher Shays narrowly survived tough races in 2004 and 2006 against Democrat Diane Farrell in which the incumbent’s support for Bush’s Iraq policy was a central issue.

The ad, which contends that “Republican Congressman Chris Shays voted five times this year to support George Bush’s failed policy in Iraq,” tells listeners, “Call Chris Shays. Tell him that we need a new direction in Iraq.”

In order to give readers more detailed background on the targeted Republicans’ records on Iraq, CQPolitics.com has constructed a detailed chart that describes the five votes to which the DCCC radio ad alludes.

The chart displays the vote number and the date it was taken; a detailed description of the vote; how the House voted on it (with a partisan breakdown between Democrats and Republicans); and the votes of the 12 House Republican members who are being subjected to the DCCC radio ads.

The five votes listed include a vote in February to disapprove of Bush’s troop buildup in Iraq, also referred to as the troop “surge;” three votes on a Democratic-crafted supplemental war spending bill this spring that aimed to set timetables to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq (including an unsuccessful attempt to override Bush’s veto of the measure); and a July vote to require the Defense secretary to begin redeploying U.S. troops and contractors from Iraq within 120 days.

The votes by and large fell along the partisan divide. Most Democrats voted to back timelines to withdraw or redeploy troops from Iraq — under the argument that the Bush administration’s strategy in Iraq has failed and has not stabilized the region. Most Republicans voted the opposite way: They generally have argued that setting deadlines to draw down troops would embolden U.S. enemies, and that a revised war strategy should be given a chance to succeed under the direction of Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq.

Nine of the 12 House Republicans who are taking flak from the DCCC’s ads sided with the position of the Bush administration and most of their Republican House colleagues on all five votes: Joe Knollenberg of Michigan’s 9th District; Mike Ferguson of New Jersey’s 7th; Heather A. Wilson of New Mexico’s 1st; Jon Porter of Nevada’s 3rd; Deborah Pryce of Ohio’s 15th; Jim Gerlach of Pennsylvania’s 6th; Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania’s 18th; Dave Reichert of Washington’s 8th; and Shays.

The ads airing against the other three House Republicans — Mark Steven Kirk of Illinois’ 10th District, James T. Walsh of New York’s 25th District and Phil English of Pennsylvania’s 3rd District — are slightly different in that they say the Republican incumbents voted four times with Bush. Kirk, Walsh and English in February broke with their party and sided with most Democrats in voting to disapprove the troop increase.

The DCCC is airing these ads in districts they consider winnable. All but one of the 12 House Republicans targeted was re-elected in 2006 with less than 55 percent of the vote. The exception is Murphy, who took 58 percent of the vote against a weak Democratic challenger but expects to face a more vigorous opponent in 2008 in his Pittsburgh-area 18th District.

The DCCC obviously would never attack any of its own party’s members, but it supports re-electing some of the Democrats’ more conservative House incumbents — who voted the same way on Iraq policy as the Republicans the Democratic campaign committee is criticizing. Georgia Rep. Jim Marshall, who won only narrowly last year in the state’s Republican-leaning 8th District, sided with most Republicans and opposed the Democrats’ preferred position on all five votes.

Another Georgia Democrat, John Barrow, who faced an even closer race in his 12th District, sided with most Republicans on four of the five votes — backing Democratic leaders only in voting to disapprove of the troop surge.

The CQPolitics.com chart does not include every Iraq-related vote the House has taken this year. For example, it does not include a May 10 vote on a measure, promoted by anti-war liberals, that called for a withdrawal of troops and contractors in Iraq to begin within 90 days, with a complete pullout within 180 days.

Anti-war liberals said they expected to lose the vote but were surprised they received 171 votes in favor of it. Yet the bill failed, with 255 “no” votes, in part because 59 House Democrats — most of them from Republican-leaning districts — opposed it.

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by Janett_Reno

http://www.cqpolitics.com/2007/08/de...ss_iraq_a.html

Despite frequent statements by President Bush and his political allies that U.S. troops are making progress in the Iraq war, the conflict remains highly unpopular among most Americans. A CBS News-New York Times poll conducted July 20-22 showed 69 percent of respondents disapproved of Bush’s handling of the war, and 66 percent said the war was going somewhat to very badly.

But that's 31 points higher than the democrat congress. Despite frequent statements that dubya is doing a horrible job with the war in Iraq, the democrat congress remains highly unpopular among....well...damn near ALL americans. Polls show that 97 percent of respondents dissapproved of the Democrat Congress's handling of the war.