Congresswoman Thelma Drake (R-2nd) held a press conference yesterday in which she offered her reason for voting against the Webb GI bill. According to this article, Drake, who was one of the bill’s sponsors, voted against it because President Bush has promised to veto the bill. I doubt this was the “dedicated answer” that the Virginian Pilot editorial board was looking for when they raised the question in Saturday’s editorial.
It seems to me that if you believe in a bill enough to sign on as a sponsor, the threat of the President’s veto should hold no sway. I would think that you would be willing to fight for the bill, and be prepared to override the veto, if necessary. After all, the bill did pass with several Republicans voting for it.
It would be easy to jump on the “partisan politics” bandwagon but I think there’s another issue here: judgment. A couple of years ago, at one of her “Coffee with the Candidate” events, that Drake laid out for us how she arrives at her decisions. At the time, I wrote this (emphasis added):
One point that really stood out in my mind was Drake’s position on representation. She mentioned something about how well people represent the districts that they are elected from. My friend questioned her on this, since Drake had said to several people that it was obvious that some people who she represented disagreed with her. For herself, she said she makes decisions on what she thinks is best. She believes that is why the people elected her and if they disagree with this approach, they should vote for somebody else.
While I disagree that this is the right answer, at least we know about it. And because she said so, we can believe that she used her own judgment to conclude that this bill was worthy of her sponsorship. Based on the article, though, the threat of a veto by Bush usurped her judgment. In other words, his judgment was more valuable than her own.
The 2nd Congressional district is one laden with veterans and active duty military. This bill provided the perfect opportunity for Drake to demonstrate that she is not just a rubber-stamper for soon-to-be ex-President Bush.
She failed the test.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
And to think Washington DC residents complain about not having a vote in Congress; the residents of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. get one Representative all to themselves! Now if only we could do something about representing the voters who live in *my* zip code….
Well, Tom Davis did explain that you don’t get to vote your conscience until you’ve decided not to run again . . .
There has been an uproar in the 5th about the very same bill.
Virgil Goode waited until there were plenty of cosponsors, then appeared to take Tom Perriello’s challenge to cosponsor. Then he voted against it and gave some lame excuse as to why.
Democratic Central
Virgil claims that the bill was fodder for liberals.
Danville Register and Bee
This is better than the Republican approach, which uses soldiers for fodder.
This is just one of the many, many reasons I am looking forward to voting for Glenn Nye in November!
The veterans derserve better than this.
I have wondered for years “who” she actually represents- over half of her donations are from PACs. With a vote like this, you be sure- it’s not the 2nd she is supporting.
what bills in washington do not have extras, drake made a bad move i thiink my wife would say the same thing coming home june 4 on the great uss truman.
Further evidence we need to unseat bush’s lap dog.
What a MAJOR dis-service to the military community – especially those put in harms way by her and the other Republicans! This sweetheart must be a slow learner – only 244 days until George leaves office. I hope that there’s a good surgeon will be able to remove her from his rectum…
Certainly that was part of her answer, but as I relate here, there is much more to it.