Ya just gotta love Democrats. Really. Over at South Dakota Watch/Middle Border Sun, Todd's got a piece called How Do You Solve A Problem Like Stephanie? The cannibalism has begun.
Apparently (and not surprisingly) the left wing of the party wants to dump the poor girl for her vote on the utterly ridiculous House version of the Obama Health Care (solution?) This mindset, of course, is why Democrats haven't been able to be a power in South Dakota.
Do people in the Democratic Party truly believe that she was elected by Democrats? She was elected by some Democrats and a bunch of moderate Republicans. Her Blue Dog status is all she's got going for her in this state.
Now Todd's no dummy. He says Stephanie can redeem herself by voting in conference committee for a Senate version that contains a public option. Read that one here.
I had a comic friend who went home from the road to hear from his wife that she was leaving him. "Are you leaving me for somebody else?" he asked. "No, I'm leaving you for anybody else," came her reply.
That's the problem for Democrats and for Stephanie. If she votes for a Senate version of the bill that contains a public option, those moderate Republicans will vote for anybody else. And, Stephanie is faced with her toughest challenge yet. If she doesn't vote the way Pelosi wants her to, she's likely not going to get a big wad of Democratic Party campaign cash in a year when she needs it more than ever. If she votes with Pelosi, it won't matter how much money she has, she'll lose.
Her Blue Dog vote on the health care bill was a gift from party big-wigs who knew they had enough votes without her so they "allowed" her to vote with her constituents...this time. Her best hope now for re-election is to keep voting with the Blue Dogs and hope that incumbency and name recognition will squeak her by likely opponent Chris Nelson without all that cash.
The Democrats aren't going to abandon her...what choice do they have? Name the other Democrat in this state who can beat an extremely popular and well-known Nelson. The Dems will vote for her. Those moderate Republicans are going to present a real problem.
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