Posted on 09/09/2013 8:30:21 AM PDT by markomalley
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., on Sunday said he had offered the White House his help to rally support for a strike on Syria but had been ignored.
“A week and a half ago my office actually reached out to the White House and said ‘we support the strike on Syria, we’re going to help you round up support if you need it,’” he said on ABC’s “This Week.”
“I haven’t heard back from the White House yet — I haven’t heard back from anyone,” he continued. “I don’t even know who my White House liaison is, who’s supposed to be creating this relationship.”
Lawmakers are weighing President Obama’s request to authorize a military attack on Syria after that country’s leader Bashar Assad used chemical weapons. The administration though faces a tough fight to win the votes needed, however, with polls showing the public opposed and both Democrats and Republicans expressing skepticism about Obama’s policies.
Even supporters of the president’s policy though say that he has failed to make the case or do enough to sway support.
Kinzinger said Obama was right to want to punish Assad, but that “it’s going to be very difficult for him to get votes.”
“He’s trying to build a relationship with Congress and there’s a trust deficit,” he added.
Adam Kinzinger, bucking the RINO charge
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, the conservative provocateur enjoying a reign of terror over the Republican Party, committed his latest outrage this week, saying that the men and women of the U.S. military would “serve as al-Qaeda’s air force” in Syria.
Most Republican lawmakers cower before the freshman senator because they are afraid to offend his tea party followers. But not Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a second-term Republican from Illinois who as an Air Force pilot served three tours in Iraq and two in Afghanistan and is now in the Air National Guard.
“That is a cheap line by some people to garner headlines and not a serious discussion about what is going on in Syria,” Kinzinger said at Wednesday’s House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into President Obama’s request to use force against the Syrian regime.
The next day, Kinzinger told me that the Cruz crack was “highly offensive” to his fellow warriors. “Look, I disagree with the president on a lot, but he’s the president of the United States and he’s made a decision which I think is important,” said Kinzinger, who supports a U.S. strike. “When it comes to foreign affairs, people shouldn’t be out there to give cheap-shot headlines. People’s lives are on the line, and so is America’s reputation.”
Ain’t gonna be no vote. Putin is arranging a kabuki theater transfer of some poison gas right now.
Rino is too good a name for him, telling the truth like Cruz is a cheap shot, and even the white house ignores him....That boy is walking around with a “Kick Me” sign on his back
Kinzinger needs voted out ASAP.
This guy Kinzinger is a real scumbag.
He sounds a lot like Pork Porkie.
He's another fake "Republican" from Illinois, like Mark Kirk. There's something in the water up there.
Often, Bugs Bunny, for whom we considered here for a write on with BP Fudd, must be paraphrased for comment.
Kinzinger; what a maroon!
That would be VP Fudd
A superior choice to what we have in there now
“Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., on Sunday said he had offered the White House his help to rally support for a strike on Syria but had been ignored.
“A week and a half ago my office actually reached out to the White House and said ‘we support the strike on Syria, we’re going to help you round up support if you need it,’” he said on ABC’s “This Week.”
“I haven’t heard back from the White House yet — I haven’t heard back from anyone,” he continued. “I don’t even know who my White House liaison is, who’s supposed to be creating this relationship.”:
The whole point of this is for Odumbo to lose the vote so he can save face by saying, “Gee, I wanted to bomb the begezus out of Assad, but Congress won’t let me. It’s Congress’ fault, not mine.”
Too stupid to serve (like too big to fail). Wasn’t a non-answer from the White Crib an answer he should have used to change his position? Wow! That should have been a no-brainer....which is telling.
On Syria, Illinois US Rep Adam Kinzinger Draws Primary Foe
By Carl Wicklander
on 09/09/2013 in Adam Kinzinger, David Hale, Illinois, Syria, tea party
Kinzinger 600x495 On Syria, Illinois US Rep Adam Kinzinger Draws Primary Foe
(Credit: nationaljournal.com)
With the US Congress returning to debate and vote on authorization to intervene in the Syrian civil war, at least one representative has drawn a primary challenge over his stance.
As one of the Republican congressmen on record supporting President Barack Obama’s proposed intervention in Syria, Illinois US Representative Adam Kinzinger has acquired a primary opponent because of his support for military action: Rockford tea party activist David Hale.
Kinzinger first won election in 2010 and defeated incumbent and fellow Republican US Rep. Don Manzullo in 2012 after redistricting. One of the younger members of the House, Kinzinger is 35 years old and served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This is actually Hale’s second attempt to challenge Kinzinger in this election cycle. Just two weeks ago, Hale withdrew his bid to challenge Kinzinger, but over the weekend announced he changed his mind and decided to challenge the two-term incumbent.
Regarding his abrupt change of mind, Hale said, “I felt not only compelled by the specter of war with Syria and Kinzinger’s support of that war, but I believed that I would have let down some of my supporters who believed in me. . . . I’m in it now to the end.”
On his Facebook page, Hale wrote on Sunday, “I will not vote for a war with anyone except if there is absolute clear reason why we would be affected.”
Kinzinger has already gone on the offensive against his fellow Republicans who are opposing the proposed military intervention.
On Sunday’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” Kinzinger criticized Texas US Senator Ted Cruz’s assertion that the US would effectively become al Qaeda’s air force. The charge refers to the high reported number of al Qaeda and al Qaeda-affiliated fighters within the Syrian opposition.
Kinzinger responded by saying, “it was a cheap line . . . to garner headlines and not a serious discussion about what is going on in Syria.”
Responding to a constituent, Kinzinger wrote in a letter reproduced on the Illinois Review website that if the US does not respond to President Bashar al-Assad’s reported use of chemical weapons, the US “will send a message to the likes of Iran and other despots that weapons of mass destruction may be used without severe retribution.”
He went on to say, “Failure to act makes al Qaeda stronger in Syria and throughout the world, not weaker” and “our nation’s national security will be at risk if we let the use of chemical weapons go unpunished.”
A chart at the Washington Post shows where members of Congress stand on attacking Syria. Kinzinger is one of 25 confirmed supporters as of September 8.
Kinzinger’s district, the sixteenth, stretches north from Rockford down to the central part of the state. In 2012, Kinzinger won election in his new district with over 60 percent of the vote. Playing into Hale’s favor is that some Illinois polls have shown as much as 80 percent opposing US strikes in Syria.
David Hale’s primary challenge will undoubtedly face troubles against an incumbent overwhelmingly re-elected. However, if he stays in the race, the residents of the 16th district will have at least one other choice on the primary ballot if Kinzinger’s support for an unpopular war remains an issue in 2014.
http://ivn.us/icon/2013/09/09/on-syria-illinois-us-rep-adam-kinzinger-draws-primary-foe/
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