Who Doesn't Support the Troops?

The McCain campaign has been running an ad that says that Barack Obama is against the troops and voted against funding for the troops. Well, nothing could be further from the truth, and by this logic you could also claim that McCain is against the troops. Here are the details behind who voted "against the troops."

On March 27, 2009, John McCain voted against a bill, H.R. 1591, that would have funded the troops. It was an emergency spending bill that would have funded the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and would have provided additional funds to the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Senate passed H.R. 1591 by a margin of 51-47, and once the bill's conference report was agreed to by the House, the Senate again passed the measure on April 26, 2007, by a vote of 51-46. McCain did not vote on that version of the bill (McCain often abstains from voting against bills as a political move to protect himself from criticism). President Bush vetoed the bill, citing its provision for a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.[1]

The bill for emergency funding returned to congress as H.R. 2206 and did not include the provision for a timetable (which would have been set by the President). Barack Obama voted against this bill on May 24, 2007, as it did not contain the timetable. This was the only time that Obama voted against a bill with funding for the troops.

In summary, McCain and Obama voted differently on the bills due to their stance on a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq and giving control of the country to the Iraqi government. I don't think it would be fair to either candidate to say that they are against the troops.