Carl Hulse of the New York Times has an article out today that looks at Evan Bayh’s record on the Iraq War as a potential liability to his prospects and effectiveness as a running mate. I want to focus on just one part of the article.
“The antiwar people cannot define the Democratic Party,” said Al From, a founder of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, of which Mr. Bayh was chairman for four years. “I think Evan’s real strength is you get someone on the ticket who has a record of being strong on national security, and that is a very important quality to have.”
It’s a frustrating part of our national political dialogue that people that supported the biggest foreign policy blunder since the escalation of the Vietnam War are consistently described as ‘strong on national security.’ If you advocate the use of force, you are strong. If you oppose the use of force, you are weak. It should be obvious that this is not an accurate or helpful dichotomy. A better measure is whether your decisions contribute to the strengthening or weakening of America’s position in the world. Those that advocated war with Iraq wound up severely weakening the country militarily, economically, and morally. But no matter how many times we make this point, pundits continue to give more credit for toughness and seriousness on foreign and military affairs to the people that got this decision wrong on Iraq.
Getting back to the issue of selecting a running mate, Barack Obama should not fall into the trap of responding to this false media narrative about who is strong and who is weak on national security. It is an asset if candidates have some experience in foreign affairs and military policy. For that reason, congresspeople that have served on the Foreign Relations/Affairs, Armed Services, and Intelligence Committees have something valuable on their resumes (Obama serves on the Foreign Relations and Veteran’s Affairs committees, Bayh serves on the Armed Services and Intelligence committees).
It’s a well-established fact that senators have a difficult time getting elected president. They rack up long and easily distorted voting records and have a tendency to become long-winded and speak like policy wonks. It’s even rarer for congressmen and women to get elevated to the top positions because they don’t have the same stature as senators and governors and they haven’t won state-wide office. Nevertheless, I thought I would take a look at the senators and congresspersons that voted against the Authorization to Use Military Force in Iraq and that have experience serving on committees related to foreign policy and/or national defense.
The Senate
In the Senate, 21 Democrats voted against the AUMF-Iraq, plus Republican Lincoln Chafee and Independent Jim Jeffords. Here are the ones serving on relevant committees:
Dick Durbin (IL)- Majority Whip
Edward Kennedy (MA)- Armed Services Committee, Chair Subcommittee on Seapower
Robert Byrd (WV)- Armed Services Committee
Jack Reed (RI)- Armed Services Committee, Chair Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities
Daniel Akaka (HI)- Chair Veteran’s Affairs Committee, Armed Services Committee, Chair Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support
Russ Feingold (WI)- Foreign Relations Committee, Chair Subcommittee on African Affairs, Committee on Intelligence
Barbara Boxer (CA)- Foreign Relations Committee, Chair Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Carl Levin (MI)- Chair Armed Services Committee, Committee on Homeland Security, Chair Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
Ron Wyden (OR)- Committee on Intelligence
Barbara Mikulski (MD)- Committee on Intelligence
Patty Murray (WA)- Veteran’s Affairs Committee
Bernie Sanders (I-VT)- Veteran’s Affairs Committee (voted on AUMF while in the House)
Sherrod Brown (OH)- Veteran’s Affairs Committee (voted on AUMF while in the House)
The House of Representatives
In the House, 126 Democrats (plus independent Bernie Sanders) voted against the AUMF-Iraq. Here are the members that voted against the bill that are still in Congress and serve on relevant committees:
Neil Abercrombie (HI)- Armed Services Committee, Chair Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces
Silvestre Reyes (TX)- Chair Intelligence Committee, Armed Services
Vic Snyder (AR)- Armed Services Committee, Chair Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
Loretta Sanchez- Armed Services Committee, Committee on Homeland Security, Chair Subcommittee on Border Maritime and Global Counterterrorism
Bob Brady (PA)- Armed Services Committee
Susan Davis (CA)- Armed Services Committee, Chair Subcommittee on Military Personnel
Rick Larsen (WA)- Armed Services Committee
Mark Udall (CO)- Armed Services Committee
Elijah Cummings (MD)- Armed Services Committee
Kendrick Meek (FL)- Armed Services Committee
Donald Payne (NJ)- Foreign Affairs Committee, Chair Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health
Bill Delahunt (MA)- Foreign Affairs Committee, Chair Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight
Gregory Meeks (NY)- Foreign Affairs Committee
Diane Watson (CA)- Foreign Affairs Committee
Lynn Woolsey (CA)- Foreign Affairs Committee
Sheila Jackson-Lee (TX)- Foreign Affairs Committee, Committee on Homeland Security, Chair Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection
Ruben Hinojosa (TX)- Foreign Affairs Committee
David Wu (OR)- Foreign Affairs Committee
Barbara Lee (CA)- Foreign Affairs Committee
Anna Eschoo (CA)- Committee on Intelligence, Chair Subcommittee on Intelligence Community Management
Rush Holt (NJ)- Chair House Select Intelligence Oversight Panel, Committee on Intelligence
John Tierney (MA)- Committee on Intelligence
Mike Thompson (CA)- Committee on Intelligence, Chair Subcommittee on Terrorism Human Intelligence Analysis and Counterintelligence
Janice Schakowsky (IL)- Committee on Intelligence
James Langevin (RI)- Committee on Homeland Security, Chair Subcommittee on Emerging Threats Cybersecurity and Science and Technology, Committee on Intelligence
Bennie Thompson (MS)- Chair Committee on Homeland Security
Pete DeFazio (OR)- Committee on Homeland Security
Zoe Lofgren (CA)- Committee on Homeland Security
Bob Filner (CA)- Chair Veteran’s Affairs Committee
Corrine Brown (FL)- Veteran’s Affairs Committee
If Obama is going to pick a running mate that is currently a member of Congress, he’d do well to pick someone off of this list. Some names are easy to cross out. Sens. Kennedy and Byrd have health problems, and Obama doesn’t need anyone from Hawaii or Illinois. He’d be ill-advised to pick an African-American, and some members have an ethical issue or two, or just generally are ill-equipped for such a high-profile race. Nevertheless, there are some very good picks on this list. Sens. Jack Reed and Ron Wyden come to mind. Sens. Carl Levin, Russ Feingold, and Sherrod Brown have good resumes. In the House, Reps. Vic Snyder, Rush Holt, and Mike Thompson all warrant consideration.
The point is that this is a list of serious politicians that have experience in foreign, military, or security issues, who got the most important vote of their lives right. And that is the biggest qualification I can think of for selecting someone that is ‘strong on national security’.
