Upper Midwest Reps Vote 14-8 Along Party Lines for Iraq Timetable

On Friday the U.S. House voted 218-212 for an emergency supplemental appropriations bill funding the Iraq war, adding in various provisions including a timetable for withdrawal from the country to begin by March 2008 and be completed by the end of August of that year.

The 22 legislators from the Upper Midwest all voted with their party: all 14 Democrats supported the bill and all 8 Republicans opposed it, including occasional Iraq war critic Jim Ramstad (MN-03).

Only 16 representatives bolted from their party—2 Republicans and 14 Democrats. Of the Democrats, 7 were from red states (3 from Georgia, and one each from Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, and Mississippi) and 7 were from blue or purple states (4 from California, and one each from New York, Maine, and Ohio). Most of the former are among the most conservative House Democrats (e.g. Jim Marshall of Georgia), and most of the latter are among its most liberal (e.g. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, Maxine Waters of California). Kucinich considered a vote for the appropriations bill with the pullout rider still a vote in support of the war effort.