It takes a great deal of courage to oppose any president during wartime--especially one that's the head of your political party. But that's what 17 Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives did yesterday when they voted to approve the historic resolution opposing the president's plans to send 20,000 more soldiers to Iraq.
In describing this unusual group of Republicans, one pundit appearing on C-SPAN after the vote characterized them as representing favorly safe districts and, therefore, immune from National Republican Party retribution. They are freer to vote their minds than many of the others.
What's also striking about this group is that so many come from states and districts that are strongly pro-defense.
The no-confidence votes of these 17 Republicans speaks volumns.
U.S. Rep. Michael Castle (Delaware)
U.S. Rep. Howard Coble (North Carolina)
U.S. Rep. Thomas M. Davis (Virginia)
U.S. Rep. Tom Davis (Virginia)
U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr. (Tennessee)
U.S. Rep. Philip Sheridan English (Pennsylvania)
U.S. Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (Maryland)
U.S. Rep. Robert Inglis (South Carolina)
U.S. Rep. Timothy V. Johnson (Illinois)
U.S. Rep. Walter Jones (North Carolina)
U.S. Rep. Richard Keller (Florida)
U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk (Illinois)
U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette (Ohio)
U.S. Rep. Ronald Ernest Paul (Texas)
U.S. Rep. Thomas Petri (Wisconsin)
U.S. Rep. James Ramstad (Minnesota)
U.S. Rep. Frederick Stephen Upton (Michigan)
U.S. Rep. James T. Walsh (New York)
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