Who is working for war and who is against it?

February 26, 2008 5:22 AM

We're working on a project and are looking for two sets of data: pro-war Democrat politicians and grassroots resistance to war. Where can we find a lists of the former and examples of the latter?

So, we're looking for a list of major Democrats who consistently vote for war. There have been several votes in congress for funding and also to "recommit" (i.e., say that we all support the troops and are not going to stop the war anytime soon). We've been going through Thomas and trying to look up congresspeople and senator's voting records one by one, but this research must have been done already and it is treacherously slow. Where can we find already compiled lists?

Second, what are examples, the more recent the better, of resistance to the war? We're thinking along the lines of what is happening out in the Port of Olympia, successful counter recruitment campaigns, and IVAW stuff. What else is happening around the country to organize against the war and resist?
Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated. Please, we're not looking for an ideological retort or trolls flaming. We're putting something together which we can share with people at the end, but we're looking for constructive help, not corrective arguments.

posted by history is a weapon to Society & Culture (4 answers total)

It's not hard to find which senators and congressmen voted yea or nay on anything. A 5 second Google search gives this or if you enjoy sifting through reams of data try here. Although you could look for already compiled lists, I wouldn't trust their validity. The best source is the primary source.
posted by JJ86 at 5:46 AM on February 26, 2008

How about looking through major liberal blogs (DailyKos is the first that comes to mind)...there are thousands of contributors and I'm sure this has been covered in detail there?

Also, maybe take a look at the Lieberman-Lamont Senate race in 2006. That was probably the deepest the struggle got for control of the Party on the war issue, so you'll probably get an idea of who went where...

As for antiwar resistance, I'd look at websites of the major antiwar coalitions...ANSWER, Not in Our Name, United for Peace and Justice. Cindy Sheehan's movement probably merits a look. Mediawise, alternative papers such as the Village Voice, and websites like commondreams.org, antiwar.com, and indymedia.org. Other ideas might be The Nation magazine, which is consistently antiwar. A last suggestion: Comb through college newspapers (as well as local papers in college towns such as the Ithaca Journal), which will probably give you stories of smaller antiwar events you might otherwise miss.
posted by j1950 at 6:52 AM on February 26, 2008

As far as war funding, have a look at this. (Look under "Iraq War Funding" header, especially this entry.) I second JJ86 -- the lists are out there, but double-check against the Congressional Record/THOMAS.
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:53 AM on February 26, 2008

As for grassroots organizations, friends of ours have organized Families of the Fallen for Change. That grassroots effort seems to be culminating in Rosemary Palmer running for Congress with a pretty much one plank (anti-war) platform. She's generally regarded as not having much of a shot (she's running against Dennis Kucinich in the primary), but I think it's more of an attempt to get publicity for their organization.
posted by dblslash at 8:50 AM on February 26, 2008