Ensign hits links and avoids taking stance on troop surge

Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007 | 7:03 a.m.

WASHINGTON - The visitors' gallery was packed with onlookers. Senators filled the floor. One of the only things missing from the Senate's rare Saturday debate on the troop surge in Iraq was Nevada's Sen. John Ensign.

A spokesman for Ensign confirmed Tuesday that he played golf with his son in Nevada rather than attend the weekend session called by Senate Democrats. Ensign criticized the vote as nothing more than "political posturing" that he had no interest in joining.

"Some of the public is not going to like it," Eric Herzik, political science professor at UNR, said of Ensign's absence for the vote.

As fighting begins its fifth year, public opinion polls show that Americans are looking to the new Congress to bring resolution to what appears to be the Bush administration's open-ended mission in Iraq.

"The irony here is in the past he's been criticized for playing too much golf and having a good tan," Herzik said. "But if you're going to criticize - 'You're out on the golf course instead of the floor of the Senate for this historic vote' - he'll say, 'What historic vote? It was a sham.'

"His position is valid. Whether or not it's popular, that's another question," Herzik said.

When Senate Democrats led by Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Thursday afternoon there would be a special session to push debate on Iraq following two weeks of Senate inaction on the war, Ensign was already headed home to Nevada.

Ensign's office first said he would make a U-turn and head back to the Capitol for the vote, but as the debate got under way, his spokesman said Saturday that the senator had decided to remain home with his family.

"Saturday's vote is nothing short of a political stunt," Ensign said in a statement.

Democrats, led by Reid, allowed discussion only of the House-passed resolution against Bush's plan for a 21,500-troop surge, sidelining a Republican proposal supporting the president.

"Once he knew the vote was going to be political posturing, he made his plans with his family," Ensign spokesman Tory Mazzola said. "He viewed the vote as nothing but politics while our troops are in harm's way."

Kirsten Searer, spokeswoman for the Nevada State Democratic Party, said: "We understand that Sen. Ensign wants to spend time with his family, but so do the troops now stationed in Iraq.

"Sen. Ensign chose to skip a vote on what is the one of the most pressing issues facing our country and our troops right now."

Ensign was among nine Republican no-shows Saturday. Among them was Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, who kept to a previously planned trip to Iraq, and presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain, who was campaigning in Iowa.

By not showing up, those senators avoided putting themselves on record on the vote. Campaign opponents - and voters - will not have a clear record to evaluate, and the no-shows will have more maneuvering room in the future to describe their position on the war retroactively.

In fact, Senate Republicans could have essentially sat out the session since the onus was on Democrats to muster the 60 votes needed to open the debate. Seven Republicans did break ranks, but the motion failed 56-34. (Democrats hold 51 seats, but one is hospitalized and Independent Democratic Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut voted with the Republicans.)

A no-vote from Ensign would not have made any difference, his staff said.

The resolution, although nonbinding, has provided Congress with its first prolonged discussion on the war since the invasion.

Professor Ross K. Baker, who studies Congress at Rutgers University, said "There's clearly a desire on the part of the public for debate on the issue."

Ensign is known as one of the best golfers in Congress. He was criticized last year for spending too much time on the greens while the Senate was in session.

If voters take issue with his absence on the Iraq war vote, they will need long memories.

"Ensign's not up for election for six years - hopefully the war will be done by then," UNLV political science professor David Damore said.

The Republicans' vote-wrangler, Minority Whip Trent Lott of Mississippi, said Saturday that he had no problem with the absence of others in his party.

"I liked it and I wanted to do that myself," he told reporters after the vote. "I want to show the maximum disrespect."

He said: "That's why I wasn't sitting at my desk, why I was wandering around causing a commotion. This was an unfair procedural vote about a nonbinding resolution, which is part of their slow-bleed strategy."

"It's a vote Sen. Reid obviously considered an important one, the most important issue facing the nation," Reid spokesman Jon Summers said.

In Carson City on Tuesday, Reid himself said: "Maybe you haven't heard about our pact?" It was a reference to an agreement he and Ensign have to not criticize each other publicly.

Reporter J. Patrick Coolican in Carson City contributed to this story.