Porter sticks on Iraq war, knowing the costs

Thursday, July 12, 2007 | 7:26 a.m.

WASHINGTON - As Washington again debates the Iraq war, no Nevada lawmaker is in a tougher position than Republican Rep. Jon Porter.

Representing a suburban district evenly split between Republicans and Democrats and already a national Democratic target in the 2008 elections, Porter has chosen to stand firmly behind an unpopular president and an unpopular war.

What happens during the next several weeks in the House could become the script for campaign ads denouncing him for failing to help bring the troops home. Anti-war groups have promised a summer of protest in his Henderson district.

As prominent Senate Republicans have begun to break ranks to oppose the war, Porter could do the same.

But he won't.

Porter and other House Republicans plan to stand firm at least until September, when the top commander in Iraq, Army Gen. David Petraeus, delivers his much-anticipated report on the results of President Bush's troop surge. Only then will they consider a shift.

Porter's office says the congressman thinks, after visiting Iraq and talking to soldiers there, that the troop surge is the best strategy for trying to win the war. The surge , which started months ago , has been at full strength for only two weeks, and he thinks it should be allowed to play out.

"The congressman remains committed to giving Gen. Petraeus an opportunity to succeed," Porter spokesman Matt Leffingwell said.

To do otherwise would be going against what has been Porter's long-standing stance, Leffingwell said. "He's been very principled in his position on Iraq. Until September, he's going to give Gen. Petraeus a chance."

Porter is in many ways like Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate from Arizona who is sticking with the Iraq strategy despite the political pain it is causing his lagging campaign.

The price for Porter could be similarly steep, despite steps he has taken since his 2 - percentage - point victory in November over Tessa Hafen, who had not sought a political office before.

Porter has move d toward more moderate political positions since , trying to live down the "rubber stamp" label he and other Republicans were tagged with for consistently siding with the Bush administration. A report this week reflected Porter's shift. It showed that Porter has voted with Democrats 25 percent of the time since January.

Julie Shutley, spokeswoman for the Republican National Congressional Committee, said she is confident Porter is weighing constituents' concerns about the war with his belief about the correct course.

"This isn't something you should be just sticking your finger out on," she said. "He will do what he thinks is right."

Nonetheless, the Democrats are keeping up the pressure, and it's only a matter of time before they are running TV ads blaming Porter for prolonging the war. Porter has sided with Bush too many times, said Fernando Cuevas, spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "People are very tired of that. They're not being heard by members of Congress."

The Democratic Party in Nevada is narrowing in on a potentially attractive challenger - Clark County prosecutor Robert Daskas, a lifelong Henderson resident known for prosecuting some of the headline cases in Southern Nevada.

The House this week begins what could be the first in a month of weekly votes on Iraq, starting with a bill to begin troop redeployment within 120 days, with pullout by April .

House Republican leaders say members are free to vote their conscience and are not under pressure to vote the party line. "We are not breaking arms on this," Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. told reporters Wednesday.

Porter knows the danger he is courting and acknowledges he will always be on the wrong side of the MoveOn.org crowd on this issue, spokesman Leffingwell said. But Porter thinks he is doing right, despite the political cost , Leffingwell said.

"We've been expecting this," Leffingwell said.