The Stimulus Bill Draws the Lines for the 2010 Elections

We are now 1 month into President Obama's term and the lines have already been very clearly drawn for the 2010 (and perhaps 2012) election. Every House Republican voted against the Stimulus Bill. All but the moderate 3 Republicans (Spector, Snowe, Collins) in the Senate voted against the Stimulus. President Obama has gone on record and said that this is his bill and his political future rests on its success.

It is almost like being early in a poker game and the players going "All In"!

It is easy to imagine the 2010 elections resulting either in the Republicans drawing close to even or even moving into the majority if the economy is still bad or gets worse (God help us all) or the Democrats having even more overwhelming majorities in both the House and Senate and a free-for-all trying to determine in the Republican party should even stay together or be replaced by a new party. This sounds far-fetched, but if the Republicans get down to 30 seats in the Senate (not impossible with the seats up for grabs in 2010 if the economy is back on track), they will be in trouble.

The reality will probably fall somewhere in the middle, but there doesn't seem to be anyone other than Arlen Spector hedging his bets these days.

To show how far this Republican 'Stand' is going, some Republican governors have been publicly stating that either they might not accept the money headed to their state from the Stimulus Bill or they will be looking at each item to see whether or not they want to take it. For the first time in my recollection, Meet the Press had on 2 Republicans to show both sides of an issue. Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, who is being paraded by the RNC as a new face of the party (and potential 2012 nominee) tried really hard to defend his stance to review each and every hand-out being offered to his state even in the presence of a $2Billion State Budget deficit. He made some points, but it was obvious he was posturing. He opposition was Florida's Republican Governor, Charlie Crist, who is happy to take all the money the Federal government gives him and was willing to stand with President Obama on the Stimulus Bill. This did not earn him any points with fellow Republicans.

But he wasn't alone. On "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" on ABC, California Republican Governor, Arnold Schwarzenagger commented on South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's statement that the Stimulus bill is creating too big a liability:

Well, Governor Sanford says that he does not want to take the money, the federal stimulus package money. And I want to say to him: I’ll take it. I’m more than happy to take his money or any other governor in this country that doesn’t want to take this money, I take it, because we in California can need it.

Republicans trying to stick with their party are getting squeezed between their party's history and the current reality. Those who are more realistic are probably going to be the beneficiaries regardless of how the economy fares.