Stance of Ellison and McCollum On Israeli-Gaza Resolution Shines a Light on Liberal Voting Records

The “present” votes registered by Keith Ellison and Betty McCollum a week ago Friday on the U.S. House resolution to recognize “Israel’s right to defend itself against attacks from Gaza, reaffirming the United States’ strong support for Israel, and supporting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, stirred up a bit of controversy in the Gopher State.

Of the 27 members of the House who did not vote in support of the resolution (5 ‘nays’ and 22 ‘presents’), 7.4 percent came from Minnesota’s delegation – which holds less than 2 percent of seats in the chamber.

Ellison released a statement explaining his vote:

“I cannot vote for this resolution because it barely mentions the human suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza. Over 750 people have been killed, including 250 children and 50 women, with over 3,000 people injured. And even before the recent Israeli military operation, life for the people of Gaza had become increasingly unliveable — with shortages of food, fuel and basic medical supplies. We need to have compassion for the people of Gaza and the tremendous human suffering there.That is why I will vote “present” on this resolution concerning the current conflict in Gaza…History has shown that ground troops and air strikes have not resolved conflict in the Middle East. If we try to resolve conflict with military might and nothing else, then we will be no safer than we were before.”

McCollum’s statement read in pertinent part:

“An immediate ceasefire is the only option. … The continued isolation of Gaza is an unacceptable option in light of the depravation and increasing desperation of the mothers, fathers and children of Gaza…. The goal of the United States, and the world, must be to work for peace. And the path to peace will never be forged through violence. For these reasons, it is my intention to vote present on H. Res. 34.”

How surprising were these votes by the two most liberal members of Minnesota’s Congressional delegation?

In total, 390 U.S. Representatives supported the resolution, or 93.5 percent of all votes cast, compared to 6.5 percent voting ‘no’ or ‘present.’

The 25 Democrats who did not vote for the measure collectively ranked (according to National Journal’s 2007 vote rankings) as the 68th most liberal in the House (excluding Democratic newcomer Donna Edwards of Maryland’s 4th District, and Republican Ron Paul who was the 27th vote).

But only Gwen Moore of Wisconsin had a higher liberal ranking than Ellison (12th) and just nine had a more liberal voting record than McCollum (46th). In other words, even most of Ellison’s and McCollum’s liberal colleagues voted in support of the resolution.

The one thing nearly all of these Democrats had in common however, regardless of how far they push the ideological meter to the left, was that they won comfortably in 2008. The average margin of victory for these 26 Democrats in 2008 was 56.2 points – nearly 20 points higher than the national average of 38.2 points.

In other words, these Representatives could feel quite safe expressing their concerns about supporting Israel in this resolution without much fear of reprisal from their constituencies: they represent very safe, liberal, and Democratic-friendly districts. In fact, only one Representative of the Gang of 27 won by less than a 30-point margin in 2008: Dennis Kucinich, who faced a near-competitive race largely due to his presidential campaigning.

Race was also a telling factor in those refusing to vote for House Resolution 34: African-American representatives were nearly five times more likely to vote ‘nay’ or ‘present’ than non-blacks. Although just 4.8 percent of non-blacks in the House opted not to vote for the resolution, nearly one-quarter of African-American U.S. Representatives – 9 of 39 (23.1 percent, including Ellison) – registered ‘nay’ or ‘present’ votes.

Ellison faced the most competitive race in 2008 of these 9 African American representatives, the others being Hank Johnson (GA-04, 99.9-point margin of victory), Donald Payne (NJ-10, 99.0 points), Gwen Moore (WI-04, 88.5 points), Barbara Lee (CA-09, 76.4 points), Dianne Watson (CA-33, 74.8 points), Donna Edwards (MD-04, 73.0 points), Maxine Waters (CA-35, 68.6 points), and Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (MI-13, 55.0 points).

U.S. Representatives Not Supporting House Resolution 34

Representative	District	Vote	Liberal Rank	2008 MoV
Ron Paul	TX-14	No	246	100.0
Hank Johnson	GA-04	Present	16	99.9
Donald Payne	NJ-10	Present	33	99.0
Gwen Moore	WI-04	No	1	88.5
Peter DeFazio	OR-04	Present	150	82.3
Barbara Lee	CA-09	Present	56	76.4
Dianne Watson	CA-33	Present	40	74.8
Donna Edwards	MD-04	Present	N/A	73.0
Maxine Waters	CA-35	No	56	68.6
Jim McDermott	WA-07	Present	61	67.2
Carolyn Kilpatrick	MI-13	Present	74	55.0
Earl Blumenauer	OR-03	Present	63	53.8
Neil Abercrombie	HI-01	Present	106	53.2
Pete Stark	CA-13	Present	117	52.6
George Miller	CA-07	Present	82	51.6
Keith Ellison	MN-05	Present	12	48.9
Lynn Woolsey	CA-06	Present	46	47.4
Sam Farr	CA-17	Present	14	46.8
John Olver	MA-01	Present	22	46.4
John Dingell	MI-15	Present	121	45.8
Loretta Sanchez	CA-47	Present	99	42.9
Jim Moran	VA-08	Present	107	38.2
Betty McCollum	MN-04	Present	46	37.1
Nick Rahall	WV-03	No	178	34.0
Maurice Hinchey	NY-22	Present	15	32.2
Raul Grijalva	AZ-07	Present	31	30.5
Dennis Kucinich	OH-10	No	158	17.4