Support The Troops By Calling These Senators And Telling Them You Oppose A Non-Binding Resolution Against Victory In Iraq

I still do not think it’s good idea to drag the RNSC into this fight over the non-binding resolution against the surge, but I do think is a huge issue, one that’s worth drawing a line in the sand over with the Republicans in the Senate who are considering selling out our troops.

Below is a list of the key Senators to contact in order to fight against the Warner Resolution (I cribbed it entirely from Hugh Hewitt’s page. I don’t think he’ll mind in this instance.), a non-binding resolution opposed to the surge.

If you contact these Senators, make sure to be polite (there’s no point to abusing the poor staffers who may not even agree with their bosses’ stand) and make sure to let them know if you happen to be one of their constituents. Their ears really perk up when they realize they’re dealing with someone from back home.

Please tell the candidates in the ’08 cycle especially —Alexander, Collins, Coleman and Smith and would be presidential nominees McCain and Brownback–that a vote for the Warner resolution is the end of support for them.

Senator Alexander’s phone: (202) 224-4944. His e-mail is here.
Senator Brownback’s phone: (202) 224-6521. His e-mail is here.
Senator Coleman’s phone: (202) 224-5641.His e-mail is here.
Senator Collins’ phone: (202) 224-2523. Her e-mail is here.
Senator McCain’s phone: (202) 224-2235. His campaign e-mail is here.
Senator Smith’s phone: (202) 224-3753. His e-mail is here.
Senator Voinovich’s phone: (202) 224-3353. His e-mail is here.
Senator Warner’s phone:  (202) 224-2023.  His e-mail is here.

The GOP leadership, which need to announce that no resolution will voted on that encourages the enemy, and that includes the Warner resolution or any cousin of the Warner resolution:

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s phone is (202) 224-2541. His e-mail is here.
Minority Whip Trent Lott’s phone is (202) 224-6253. His e-mail is here.
Senator Jon Kyl’s phone is (202) 224-4521. His e-mail is here.
Senator John Ensign’s phone is (202) 224-6244. His e-mail is here.

Update #1: Hugh Hewitt had John Ensign, the head of the NRSC on his show yesterday and although Ensign made it clear that he didn’t support a non-binding resolution against a surge, he also told Hugh that the NRSC isn’t going to withdraw support from the Senators that break with the party on that issue.

And let’s face it, even setting aside the fact the NRSC exists solely to get Republican Senators elected, so this pledge runs counter to the purpose of their existence, they’d be dumb to give in because what would happen if the NRSC were rolled on this issue? Well, next week, I’d be leading the charge to do the exact same thing on amnesty and someone else would be leading the fight on embryonic stem calls and you can go on and on with this.

That’s the pledge is a bad idea: it puts the NRSC is a no win situation. They cannot possibly give people what they want, no matter how many people sign the petition. So, in the end, yes you’re going to put pressure on the bad actors in the Senate with this, but that could have been done without bringing the RNSC into it in the first place. By going about it in this way, it may cost the RNSC a significant amount of fund raising dollars and then, as a consequence, we may see key, conservative Senators going down to defeat in 2008.

I pointed this out right from the beginning, even before this went live, and nobody was willing to listen. Big mistake.

Here is an excerpt from Hugh’s interview:

John Ensign: Well, you know, people are going to have to make their own decisions on who they support. As the chairman of the NRSC, you can’t pick one vote and say if you don’t vote here, we’re not going to support you. You can’t have litmus tests like that on virtually anything, because Ronald Reagan, and I live by his adage, he said that somebody who agrees with you 80% of the time, that’s your friend, not your enemy. And as we go forward, we have to look for people that are with us the vast majority of the time, and certainly because the other side, you know, if you elect a Democrat over a Republican, you’re going to end up with somebody who’s against you 80% of the time, if not more.

Hugh Hewitt: So I gather, Senator Ensign, the NRSC will not change its policy of supporting incumbent Republicans, regardless of how they vote?

John Ensign: Oh, I mean, we have a policy right now, I do, I’m the chairman, I set the policy over there, that we have to make sure to try to get back into the majority, and you know, we can’t do that without defending our 21 incumbents. But at the same time, I’m trying to recruit the best people I can recruit out there to try and get us back in the majority. You know, Hugh, you know where I’ve stood on the positions, you know my record well, and I am a Ronald Reagan type of a Republican. I believe in limited government, a strong national defense, and believe our party is best for this country. And sometimes, that means having people in our party here in the Senate that we don’t necessarily match up exactly with. But that…it still can bring us to the majority, to where then we can control the agenda. When we’re in the minority, we can’t control the agenda. And sometimes, we get upset with our other members who don’t vote the way that we would want them to vote, and sometimes it’s one person, and sometimes it’s another.

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