Rats Wanting Desperately Off the Ship

A report by Anne Flaherty for AP is titled "GOP defections on Iraq: Who's next?": After the recent defection of prominent Republicans on the Iraq war, the big question in Washington is who might be next. More than a dozen Republican senators who are running for re-election next year head the list of lawmakers to watch. But others, too, have expressed concerns that the GOP has grown increasingly vulnerable on the issue. As the clock ticks toward Election Day, voter pressure is building against any lawmaker still standing with President Bush on the war. Potential wildcards include members up for re-election who have broken with the president on other issues such as immigration or who face growing anti-war sentiment in their home states. Those include Sens. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, Ted Stevens of Alaska, Pat Roberts of Kansas, Michael Enzi of Wyoming, James Inhofe of Oklahoma and Jeff Sessions of Alabama. The report goes on, naming several other Republicans who have publicly faulted Bush's Iraq stupidity: Norm Coleman, Richard Lugar, George Voinovich, Pete Domenici, Susan Collins, John Sununu, Lamar Alexander, Gordon Smith, Christopher Bond, John Warner, and Olympia Snowe.