"I support the President’s surge proposal. I would prefer it to be with more troops, and that we were not announcing an arbitrary withdrawal date. However, I will back the President’s decision as Commander-in-Chief, and will vote whatever funds are needed by our troops. And I believe we should fund this surge with unused monies from the stimulus, not from any new taxes or surcharges."

"It is worth our sacrifice to build a lawfully-governed Afghanistan that will no longer serve as a staging area for attacks on America like 9-11. But only if we are determined to achieve that in spite of all obstacles. The President needs to make that point crystal clear and I don’t believe he did that tonight."

"My concern is that this is more of a political plan than a war plan. The President appears to be trying to meet his campaign pledge to fight the war in Afghanistan, while placating the MoveOn.org demand to withdraw at the same time."