CNN is reporting that an influential "conservative" political action committee is gearing up to fight the 3 GOP Senators that voted for the stimulus bill in the Senate. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine (aka Cheers and Jeers land) along with perennial moderate Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania decided that they would try their hands at bipartisanship and help craft a compromise version of the House's bill that looked to be doomed to fall short of the 60 votes needed in the Senate (not a filibuster, just a rule) But that has raised the ire of the most "conservative" parts of the GOP and that could spell a problem especially for Specter.
Arlen is up for reelection in 2010 and has fended off primary challenges before (see 2004 and Club For {No Personal} Growth president Pat Toomey) So the National Republican Trust PAC has decided to test him and the Senators from Maine in the future. The reason given...
"Republican senators are on notice. If they support the stimulus package, we will make sure every voter in their state knows how they tried to further bankrupt voters in an already bad economy."
Nice...work with the party that is in control and you will be voted off the island...welcome to politics Republican 2009 style...despite all of the cuts made to the bill, no other Republican Senators could vote for it. But they really are just trying to get rid of Specter, not realizing they are opening the door to the 65 seat Democratic majority come 2010. Specter, Snowe, and Collins are all in Democratic leaning states. But that doesn't matter to the "conservative" wing of the party, it's their way of the highway.
"We're now going to get involved in finding a conservative alternative."
That apparently is too lose complete control of the Senate, fall farther behind in the House and marginalize themselves into oblivion. But the "Gaggle of 3" (not big enough to be a gang) saw a chance to at least try and compromise. Isn't that right executive director of The National Republican Trust PAC Scott Wheeler?
"The American people don't want this trillion-dollar political payoff that will just line the pockets of non-governmental organizations who supported Obama in the election..."
Ahh so the 54% of Americans who do don't count. CNN polls just get in the way. So the moral of the story...support the Democrats in any way and the GOP will hunt you down, yell at you, call you un-American, quote some guy named Reagan, and get this weird cable news channel to make fun of you. Sounds like a plan to me.