Brody's Notes... Senator From West Virginia Lone Democrat To Vote No On DADT Vote

Then Governor, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) With President George W. Bush  Photo By The UPI

By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) DEC 9 | In a statement released by his office immediately after his No vote on the Senate Cloture Vote regarding the National Defence Authorisation Bill, to which the repeal of DADT was attached as an amendment, West Virgina Senator Joe Manchin (D) defended his actions saying:

"While I believe the 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell' policy will be repealed someday, and probably should be repealed in the near future, I do not support its repeal at this time," Manchin said in the statement. "I truly understand that my position will anger those who believe repeal should happen now and for that I sincerely apologize. While I am very sympathetic to those who passionately support the repeal, as a Senator of just three weeks, I have not had the opportunity to visit and hear the full range of viewpoints from the citizens of West Virginia."

The Senator went on to elaborate with reporters that his 'no' vote didn't reflect his personal concerns with repealing the DADT policy rather he said it's "an issue of timing."
Manchin went on to suggest that the President should "just leave the Senate out of the equation" and take it upon himself to stop the policy, noting that some believe it's within President Obama's executive powers to suspend the military discharges "if he deems it a matter of national security."

"If this is correct, and the President was to make such an order, while I may disagree with it, I would respect his authority as President to do so," Manchin said in the statement.

Sources on Capitol Hill, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the Democratic Leadership was privately angry at the West Virginia Senator, especially as the man he replaced due to his death, Senator Robert Byrd (D), had been in support of repeal. Especially troublesome according to sources is the fact that he had not only sat through the Armed Services Committee hearings listening to testimony from the Defence Secretary and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs that made it clear that now was the time to repeal the policy, but that he also had heard from the 5 service chiefs themselves indicating that the military had the ability to implement the policy repeal if so directed.  Another point of contention was that Manchin was Governor of West Virgina for the past 6 years and as such, his claim of not hearing the range of viewpoints from citizens in his state on this issue was ludicrous.
Late this evening, Michael Mitchell, the Executive Director of the National Stonewall Democrats released the following statement addressing the West Virginian, who was the only Democratic Senator to vote against the cloture:

“With all due respect, I’m frankly flummoxed by your vote on cloture for debate on the National Defense Authorization Act today. I’m just not sure how you can square not voting to fund our troops in a time of two wars, and not voting to take care of our veterans – especially when that vote has you siding with a party whose only concern is tax cuts for the very wealthy.

Senator Byrd, who proudly served West Virginia for decades, said it best to one of your constituents before he died, ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell doesn't change the composition of our armed forces – it merely allows troops to continue to do their jobs without fear of dismissal or blackmailing because of their personal life.’

President Obama has called for an end to the discriminatory law. The Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs have called for repeal, especially as an alternative to a court-ordered repeal. The military rank and file are behind repeal. The large majority of Americans are behind it. A legislative remedy is by far the best way to handle it and yet you stood as a lone Democrat against repeal.

As a fellow Democrat, I respect your vote, but it’s just flat out wrong. And I strongly encourage you to be a leader and vote for repeal when presented with the DADT standalone measure before this Congress ends.”