The anti-surge resolution, as symbolic and empty a gesture as it was, does tell us something a little interesting about the politics of the war in the country today.  Specifically, it probably tells us something about the geography of antiwar sentiment as reflected in Republican crossover votes.  At first, it seems pretty predictable when we find that the largest group of Republican defectors comes from the Northeast and Midwest, which together produced eight of the seventeen votes.  However, given the Midwest’s tendency to be more antiwar and anti-interventionist than other regions it is a little surprising that more Republicans from the region didn’t support the resolution.  

More unexpectedly, the Carolinas account for three of the GOP’s anti-surge votes, and all together the South (including Florida) had seven GOP members who crossed the line.  (Delaware and Maryland had one GOP member apiece vote for the resolution.)  It is granted that these seven include the rebellious and principled antiwar figures in the party, such as Duncan and Paul, but the number of members from the South would seem to qualify the commonly held view of reflexive Southern support for the war.  Feeding into that view, however, would be the Democratic members from Georgia and Mississippi who voted against the resolution.