Bush veto: a curse or blessing for Republicans?

In a purely electoral sense, Blunt might have a point that some GOP House members wouldn’t necessarily mind voting again and again on the bill.

There are GOP members who’ll vote for it and can argue in their campaign ads: “I voted for kids’ health insurance seven times.”

In districts where Bush is especially unpopular, this could be useful strategy for 2008.

An easy vote for one GOP member
“It’s an easy one for me, I’m voting ‘yes,’” said Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash.  He voted against the original House version which included a $200 billion cut in a program called Medicare Advantage.

The current bill dropped that cut.

“I’ve always had no problem at all with a cigarette tax, although the SEIU (Service Employees International Union) robo-calls indicated that I sided with the big tobacco companies over children’s heath care,” Reichert said. “Since my grandfather, my father, and my uncle, all died of emphysema; they could tax the hell out of cigarettes for all I care.”

The votes allow GOP members in tight races next year to taken an anti-Bush posture.

Reichert, for example, won last November with just 51 percent and faces another daunting re-election battle next year.

“I think it’s wrong that he veto this bill. It should move forward and become law,” Reichert said.

As often happens in Congress, there was an element of charade to Tuesday’s scrimmaging.

On Wednesday the House will vote on a temporary spending measure that will include a stopgap extension of CHIP.

“We get tomorrow to extend the current program for kids. So all of our (GOP) members will go home saying ‘Look I voted this week to extend the current program for kids who are at 200 percent of poverty or below.’” Blunt said confidently.

'A heavy lift' to over-ride Bush
“Getting to a veto-proof majority is an extremely heavy lift,” said Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., one of the Republicans who is urging her GOP colleagues to vote for the bill.

The objections to the bill among GOP members, Wilson said, depend on the district. For some, it’s the big hike in taxes on smokers. “North Carolina guys — that’s an issue for them,” Wilson said. “And some folks have taken pledges about being against taxes — no matter what they are.”

But Wilson’s view is that “this is a good bill. It is not a great bill, but we need to compromise. I just think we should get pragmatic and get things done.”

Like Reichert, Wilson had a tough time surviving last year: she won by only 861 votes out of more than two million cast.

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