While we are still waiting to see if Josh Rales keeps to his vow to avoid negative campaigning against Maryland Democratic frontrunner Ben Cardin, Allan Lichtman has sent out an email attacking Ben Cardin on the War in Iraq:
Ben Cardin's voting record in Congress contradicts the claim on his recent television commercial that he has been a "principled" (Wash Post 8/8) critic of the war in Iraq. The ad voiceover claims, "Cardin stood up to the President and voted against the war in Iraq from the start." This statement is blatantly misleading. Since the war began, Cardin has invariably voted for every request by President Bush to fund the Iraqi war. On matters of policy, unrelated to funding, he has voted to oppose a resolution calling for a plan to withdraw the troops from Iraq and to support a Republican-crafted resolution giving Bush authorization to prolong the war indefinitely.I am not sure that Maryland Democrats will buy into my AU colleague's view of Ben Cardin as the "chief congressional enabler" of George Bush because Cardin, a liberal Democrat, has repeatedly voted to fund the American military. However, it may not be a bad strategy for attracting support from staunch, motivated, left-wing Democrats who vote in large numbers in Democratic primaries. Lichtman is not alone is advocating that Congress end the war by cutting off the funding tap. Deborah Vollmer who is challenging incumbent Rep. Chris Van Hollen in the Democratic primary has taken the same position.
On May 25, 2005 the Congressman broke with a majority of Democrats to vote against the Woolsey Amendment, which asked the President to "develop a plan for the withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Iraq."
On July 20, 2005 the Congressman broke with 65 percent of Democrats to vote for the House Resolution authored by Republican hawk Ros-Lehtinen of Florida which authorized President Bush to keep U.S. troops in Iraq until he finds that the mission is completed.
"Ben Cardin has been a chief congressional enabler of Bush's war in Iraq," Allan said recently. "Cardin has broken with the majority of congressional Democrats to give the president a blank check to continue the war indefinitely. In voting to fund the war, he has hidden behind the phony argument that our troops are protected by sustaining the war rather than bringing them home safely and promptly."
Allan is the only candidate to have repeatedly pledged in writing that if elected to serve in 2007, "I will not vote another penny to continue the war, but will only vote for funds to protect our brave troops and bring them home safely and promptly. I lived through ten years of Vietnam and know that cutting off the funds is the only way to stop the war. All else is hot air."
