Ileana Hates Iraq, Loves War

How else could you explain her 1.59% lifetime progressive score on votes related to the Iraq war? In addition to her original vote to authorize the war, she voted:
*against making the president work through the United Nations for a solution
*to limit Congressional authority over war spending
*against establishing civil support teams through the National Guard to guard against WMDs
*in favor of castigating France for its Iraq stance
*against investigating the president for lies about the war
*against limiting money given to Halliburton in the wake of their price-gouging
*in favor of giving Bush more power over military reconstruction projects
*against forcing Bush to justify his Iraqi reconstruction plan with an actual plan
*against increased funding for human rights protections for women and girls in Afghanistan
*against requiring competitive bidding on oil contracts in Iraq
*to declare that the United States and the world are safer because Saddam Hussein was removed from power
*against requiring accountability for harsh treatment of Iraqi prison and congressional inquiry into prison abuse
*repeatedly to increase funding for the war in Iraq
*against investigating contracts and federal spending in Iraq and Afghanistan
*against a "sense-of-the-House" resolution calling for the president to develop a plan to withdraw troops from Iraq
*in favor of the troop surge
*repeatedly against setting a deadline for withdrawal from Iraq

Debate? Republicans run and hide.

Republican members of Congress in South Florida don’t look like debaters. The reference is to the Diaz-Balarts and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen -- track stars when it comes to running and hiding.

Joe Garcia, challenging Mario Diaz-Balart for District 25, said in a statement Wednesday that his opponent had backed out of a commitment to debate.

“This is an act of political cowardice. If Mario Diaz-Balart had time to vote to underfund our schools, three times against children’s healthcare and against medical benefits for veterans, then he better make time to explain himself to the people of South Florida,” the statement said.

Cowardice? Goodness, tough word. But that’s exactly what Raul Martinez said Tuesday evening at a meeting of the Democrats of South Dade Club. Martinez said his opponent in District 21, Lincoln Diaz-Balart, had accepted a labor union debate invitation but then changed the date and now seems unavailable. “Why is he hiding?” Martinez asked. Later he returned to the topic and said if there is no debate, “I’m going to call him a coward. Mr. Coward. Coward, coward.”

The crowd was delighted. Just think, there are still over five months of this before election day.

Annette Taddeo’s campaign was more polite, according to the Miami Herald, which quoted the candidate’s campaign manager, Anastasia Apa, saying she hopes for a change of heart.