Biden alone

The senator from Delaware is the only one among the Democratic presidential candidates to vote for the war supplemental.

Published May 25, 2007 2:48PM (EDT)

Ten Democratic senators voted to oppose the Iraq war supplemental funding bill that Congress approved Thursday, without the withdrawal timeline war opponents had hoped for. Out of those 14, three -- Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn. -- are in the running for their party's 2008 presidential nomination, and surely they hope this vote will help them with a Democratic base that wants to see the war ended. Delaware Sen. Joe Biden was the only Democratic candidate to vote for the bill.

A Biden aide had this to say in an e-mail to the Hotline, the National Journal's blog:

"First, as you know, Biden was the ONLY Democratic presidential candidate in the Senate to vote for the supplemental. In remarks on the floor following the vote, he said: 'The President may be prepared to play a game of political chicken with the well-being of our troops. I am not. I will not.'"

A list of how every senator voted is here; the House vote is here.

Update: Thanks to scratchtasia in comments, who pointed out that 10 Democratic senators voted against the supplemental, not 14, as originally stated.


By Alex Koppelman

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon.

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Barack Obama Christopher Dodd D-conn. Hillary Rodham Clinton Iraq War Joe Biden