Rep. Paul Kanjorski speaks on the Hill. | John Shinkle/POLITICO The Dems who bucked Obama

Nearly all of the 11 Democrats who voted against the economic stimulus package Wednesday had an incentive other than the plan’s hefty price tag: Nine of them hold districts carried by John McCain in 2008.

While none cited that fact when explaining why they bucked President Barack Obama and House Democratic leaders, there is little doubt that the conservative nature of their seats colored their votes.

“The speaker has said many times that the members are representative of their district,” said Brendan Daly, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “Many of the districts are more conservative, and they campaigned on fiscal responsibility, and we understand that.”


The congressional district voting analysis was compiled by the Swing State Project, a Democratic blog. While the data are unofficial, they track closely with past presidential performance results in those districts.

Among the 11 are four freshmen from Republican-oriented districts who narrowly won election in 2008. One of them, Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-Md.), is already facing the prospect of a rematch with a GOP opponent he defeated by less than 1 percent.

“We need to make some tough choices about where we can and can’t afford to be spending taxpayer money,” Kratovil said after the vote, “and I’m not convinced that this package focused enough of its spending on the programs most likely to have a short-term economic impact.”

Kratovil’s vote came as little surprise to Maryland Democrats, who note that he holds a seat that had been in GOP hands for 16 years.

“I do know that he has a very unique challenge on his hands,” said Maryland Democratic Party Executive Director Quincey Gamble.

Gamble said retaining the seat would require that Kratovil keep close tabs on the political pulse on the district and that he would ultimately legislate from the center on spending issues — something he promised on the campaign trail last fall.

Just two of the 11 Democratic no votes, Rep. Jim Cooper of Tennessee and Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski of Pennsylvania, represent seats that voted for Barack Obama. For them, the discretionary spending was too much to swallow.

“We face the most challenging economic crisis since the Great Depression,” said Kanjorski in a statement, “yet this bill merely throws money at the problem by expanding existing programs.”

The day after his no vote, Cooper, a budget hawk and member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog coalition, expressed frustration over what he said was leadership’s lack of outreach in the drafting of the bill.

“They really don’t care what Blue Dogs think,” Cooper told Politico, noting that he stood before a meeting of the House Democratic Caucus on Monday and outlined his concerns. “There’s huge frustration.”

Cooper said he had spoken to other Democratic fiscal conservatives who said they wanted to vote no but felt they couldn’t, though he declined to specify any by name.

“We wish we could be more relevant in the discussion before they got more advanced,” Cooper added.

Aides to other Democrats who voted against the bill also expressed frustration at the process but credited White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel for committing to adopt stricter pay-as-you go standards in a meeting with Blue Dogs last Tuesday — a move that locked up support from a vast majority of Blue Dogs.

Still, some Blue Dogs are smarting over the process, with one aide saying that party leadership used “sales jobs” to try to promote the package without seeking outside input.

The aide said the approach was less than effective for his boss, who is from a Republican–heavy district.

“We don’t exactly drink the Kool-Aid, you know what I mean?” this person said.

Aides to Pelosi say she is actively reaching out to Blue Dogs with an eye toward addressing their concerns about deficit reduction. They note that in February, Obama is set to host a fiscal responsibility summit focusing on entitlement spending — a cause Cooper is expected to head up for the Blue Dogs.

Pelosi’s side is also quick to point out that those who voted against the bill on Wednesday make up only 20 percent of the Blue Dog coalition.

Whatever reason the Democratic members had for opposing the bill, they awoke on Thursday with voicemail boxes jammed with requests from right-wing talk show hosts begging them to bash Obama.

It’s a position he’s not comfortable with, said Cooper, noting that he’s a big Obama fan — just not a fan of the stimulus package.

“[Republicans] just didn’t want to vote for anything a Democratic president was moving,” Cooper said. “I try to be more discerning.”