Posted on 11/12/2009 6:02:11 AM PST by Kaslin
On election night, Nov. 2, 2010, less than 12 months away, Speaker Nancy Pelosi might rue her victory celebration this past Saturday.
Pelosi, attired in a regal red dress, presided over the vote on the Democratic health care bill last Saturday night. The vote complete, she victoriously announced the bill's narrow passage by 220 to 215. Minutes later, Pelosi began the celebratory press conference with the exclamation, "Oh, what a night!"
That same statement might be the theme for next year's mid-term elections.
The final vote for the Democratic health care bill included 176 Republicans and 39 Democrats voting no, with 219 Democrats and one Republican voting yes.
The lone Republican vote came from Rep. Joseph Cao, R-Lou. a first-term congressman from an overwhelmingly Democratic district in New Orleans. The last Republican congressman elected from this district was Hamilton Coleman in 1888. According to the Cook Partisan Voting Index, this district is the most Democratic-leaning district that is currently represented by a Republican.
Cao understands he is in an unusual situation and understands his constituents can vote him in, and out, of office.
He was elected with 50 percent of the vote in a special election, replacing Rep. William Jefferson (yes, the man who was found with money in his freezer). The district, which is 64 percent African American, voted 75 percent for Barack Obama. The district has 22 percent uninsured, which is 50 percent higher than the national average. Cao, who according to The Washington Post has voted with the Republican Party 80 percent of the time, crossed the party line and voted for his constituents and, according to him, his conscience.
The Democratic Congress, primarily along party lines, had defeated the Republican health care alternative earlier in the day. With no other option, Cao voted yes.
In a post-celebratory news conference, Pelosi said, "The Democrats voted for the bill and a Republican voted for the bill; that equals bipartisan."
This attempt at claiming bipartisanship is disrespectful to the American people. They understand that one person crossing party lines does not bipartisanship make.
The passage of the Stupak Amendment, which prohibits abortion insurance coverage in the public insurance option and in private plans that accept people who are receiving government subsidies, was the last hurdle for Cao to vote yes for the Democratic health care plan.
The amendment was a compromise from Pelosi to conservative Democrats who were bucking passing a health care bill that would use taxpayer dollars to fund abortions. To gain forward momentum, Pelosi allowed the amendment to come the floor of the House for a vote. Pelosi and her team opposed the amendment, but understood that without a vote on this amendment, the Democratic health care bill might fail to pass the House.
The amendment passed, by 240 to 194. Rep. John Shadegg, R–Ariz., voted present, the remaining 176 Republicans voted for the amendment, as did 64 Democrats.
Now, that's bipartisanship.
Pelosi continued during the celebratory news conference, "We are proud to take responsibility and credit for this great victory because it was obviously largely with Democratic votes."
That's good news. While Pelosi's district is a Democratic stronghold, many of the Democratic House members who voted for the Democratic health care bill are in districts that mirror more closely the national sentiment.
This will create an exciting 2010 election for many of the Democratic House members who voted for the bill.
"Republicans have moved ahead of Democrats by 48 percent to 44 percent among registered voters," noted a Gallup Poll released Tuesday. This year, "independents' preference for the Republican candidate in their districts has grown, from a 1-point advantage in July to the current 22-point gap."
Next fall, plan on seeing clips of Pelosi's congratulatory news conference during which the Democratic side takes responsibility and credit for the passage of a health care bill that provides for large government intervention and control in an enormous sector of our economy. It will be replayed and replayed in many districts where there are close elections.
Like Cao's district in Louisiana, the constituents in all districts determine whom they will send to Washington to represent them in Congress.
Oh what a night Nov. 2, 2010, could become.
My prediction:
R’s net gain: 51 House seats and 6 Senate seats.
Attired in the permanently now media-assigned color of Republicans, or in the color of communism (aka red-china, red-scare, red-menace, etc).
I suspect the latter.
November 2010, Pelosi, America’s Mengele, will preside over the RAT sewer that she was spawned in. She will be remembered in history as a traitor that attempted to destroy her country and her desire to kill off as many Americans as she could via her DeathCare bill by denying medical coverage to millions of Americans. Not a worthy claim when she faces her God.
I hope so but that seems pretty optimistic. Perhaps some of them will not be “moderates”.
Would love to see this. Nothing will get done...which is a good thing!
Attired in the permanently now media-assigned color of Republicans, or in the color of communism (aka red-china, red-scare, red-menace, etc).
I suspect the latter.
I think a more apt analogy is as a member of the world's oldest profession, a "Woman in Red". Maybe a scarlot (harlot) letter.
don’t count on big gains in the HOUSE by conservatives, who are often “all talk, no action.”
Winning HOUSE seats takes a lot of “work in the trenches.”
Where is the smile witch..I really hope for their sake the Dem's and the repubs in the senate do not pass this Death Care..I think in the picture old smiley Nancy has been talking to crooked Harry and finds out she will be laughing out the other side of her pie hole when the votes are against her and her idiot congressman..and the Death Care will fail..
It scarcely matters how big the Republican victory is in 2010 if nationalization of health care is accomplished. It won’t be repealed and the argument will then be about how best to run the new bureaucracy. I could care less about the size of Republican gains in 2010. It’s irrelevant.
Some families can’t stay off of the public dollar.
My prediction:
The ‘Pubbies, aka “The Stupid Party,” completely hose the 2010 elections. Scandals (real or imagined) spread with the help of the State-run MSM distract the voters, while vote fraud does the rest. ‘Pubbies demonstrate a remarkable lack of guts in fighting back against either. Minimal gains in the House and Senate. Democrats, aka “The Evil Party,” continue to hold majorities in both Houses.
Face it, folks. Steele is STILL the chairman of the GOP. If it can be screwed up, he will screw it up, but good.
“What makes y’all believe that der Fuerher and his boys will allow an election in 2010? They’ll come up with an “emergency”,,,count on it. “
Then they can count on DC being under siege by 20 million pissed-off citizens. Der Fuehrer and his boys will find themselves ending up like... der Fuehrer and his boys.
They’re not going to get away with it.. not now.
Oh, don’t worry. There will be an election. The USSR had elections. Cuba has elections. Iran has elections. The Obama administration will have elections.
They may not mean much more than the elections in those other countries, but there will be elections.
“In a post-celebratory news conference, Pelosi said, “The Democrats voted for the bill and a Republican voted for the bill; that equals bipartisan.”
Ms. Pelosi, please report to Napa State Hospital in Imola, immediately. You are unhinged.
Can you spell peeric? Uh, Pheeric? Hmm, Pyrich? Pyrhicc? Phyrix? pyhrric?
I guess not.
I think you are correct. Boy, the Media will be in agony that night!
“Not a worthy claim when she faces her God.”
In her case, most likely a lower-case ‘g’.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.