In short, the only Republican senators who voted "No" on this bailout bill are those whose seats are safe.
Right now, 5 Republican senators are almost tied with their Democratic challengers in their 2008 Senate races: Chambliss/GA, Coleman/MN, McConnell/KY and Wicker/MS (MS is an open seat). Each of them voted "Yea" on the bailout bill.
Of the 3 more Republicans actually losing to their Democratic challengers right now, Smith/OR and Sununu/NH also voted "Yea". Only Dole/NC is contrary to the pattern: she voted "No", though she's losing to her Democratic challenger - but Dole has been demonstrated incompetent to run any Senate campaign, whether hers or her entire party's, since at latest 2006, when she lost every defense and didn't win one challenge. Even in single-digit Republican Texas, which is "close" only relative to the 20-30 points in the other 9 Republican defenses, Cornyn voted "Yea".
But why does it break down along those lines? Here's some possibilities...
Read More