On war, Murray's voice is heard over others'

WASHINGTON — There was a time when the fiercest anti-war voice in the delegation belonged to Rep. Jim McDermott, Seattle's favorite liberal Democrat. But these days, Sen. Patty Murray is center stage.

Tuesday morning, an official with the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) caused a stir when he told the Senate Budget Committee that the new escalation of troops in Iraq was not following normal Army procedures. The CBO had said that it was more likely the U.S. could send about 48,000 troops for the surge, not 21,500 — as President Bush had announced.

Without an additional 20,000 support troops to accompany combat forces, "It would mean that the administration is willing to accept risks they aren't normally willing to accept," said the CBO's National Security expert, Michael Gilmore.

Murray pounced.

Calling the new strategy deeply disconcerting, Murray said, "The Bush administration is just trying to minimize the number of troops that will be required so we don't question it."

A few hours later, Murray took to the Senate floor and denounced the lack of a debate on the war. "I'm not going to let anyone silence me, the troops I speak for, or the constituents I represent," she vowed.

Murray is getting used to her new, larger platform as part of the Senate Democrats' four-person leadership team.

"She has both her own bully pulpit, but also a responsibility to Democrats. She's been taking an important leadership role within the delegation on Iraq," said Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Lake Stevens.

She has attacked the war as a budgetary disaster and castigated its impact on veterans' costs, on military families, on the capability of the National Guard to perform at home.

After the election, it seemed likely that the delegation's dean, Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Bremerton, would take the lead. A friend of the military, Dicks had voted to send troops to Iraq, and then reluctantly changed his mind, providing added gravitas to his anti-war statements.

But he is taking a back seat to Rep. John Murtha, the Pennsylvania Democrat who began opposing the war much earlier. Dicks has done so in deference to Murtha's seniority and because he is also busy handling the appropriations for the interior and defense departments.

Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Democrat who also voted for the war, is against the surge. But she's tethered herself mostly to energy issues.

Meanwhile, Murray is providing a clear contrast with presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Murray has long ago polished her pro-military credentials as veterans' No. 1 advocate, which allowed her to vote against the war in 2002. At the time she asked, "Are we hearing the truth about what it will cost?"

Now, she says, oversight hearings should provide an answer. Or not.

This week, Defense Secretary Bob Gates did not come to the Senate Budget Committee hearing.

Murray said in an interview, "Now that the Senate is finally demanding information, the administration is hiding from us." She added, the administration is "deliberately lowballing" the numbers in the surge.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., says Murray has really found her voice. "She conveys these issues in a way the American people can grasp and care about."

He added, "Not like some politicians who are enamored with their own rhetoric."

She's being groomed for an important role, he said. Perhaps the Dems will send her into the ring with John McCain.

Letter from Washington is an examination of the culture of politics and power in the nation's capital. Alicia Mundy: amundy@seattletimes.com