Reply #9: Here's some convoluted reasoning [View All]

[Jcrowley]

The smart politics of the detainee vote
Did adroit Democratic candidates take away one of the GOP's best issues?
Sherrod Brown
Nick Wass / AP file

Democratic Senate candidate in Ohio, Rep. Sherrod Brown, a fierce critic of President Bush, voted for the administration-supported bill on detainees.

By Tom Curry
National affairs writer
MSNBC
When the House voted Wednesday to pass the Bush administration-supported bill on treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Naval Base, the biggest surprise— at first blush — was that Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown, a fierce opponent of the Iraq war and of President Bush, voted for the bill.

Brown, the Democrats’ Senate candidate in Ohio against Republican Sen. Mike DeWine, led all House Democrats in 2005 in the percentage of votes in which he opposed the president: 93.5 percent, according to Congressional Quarterly.
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Brown explained his vote this way in an interview with MSNBC.com Thursday: "Unlike Mike DeWine, I'm willing to stand up to my party when they're wrong."

Why Brown voted 'yes'
He said the detainees "are not soldiers, not combatants representing a government, these are terrorists."

He added, "I supported a compromise because I think John McCain, a former prisoner of war, understands what we need to do to ensure our soldiers are safe."

He added, "Some people just don't want me to agree with George Bush on anything."

Brown’s vote for the detainee bill made sense. In one move, Brown snatched away an issue that the Republicans might have used to tar him.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15049251