When the House returns next week to rubber-stamp the Senate’s $26 billion state-aid package, Democrats will take a political crapshoot.
Even though party leaders expect that approval will be a slam-dunk, some early responses from rank-and-file Democrats have raised red flags about the optics of returning to a special session to vote on more spending — even if it’s framed as saving teachers’ jobs.
The risk for Democrats as they seek to bolster their flagging election prospects is that some of their vulnerable members will feel like they have to walk the plank, yet again, on a politically unpopular economic-stimulus agenda, while reminding voters of their failure to handle routine budget work this year.
Many Democrats are already cranky about the abrupt interruption to their campaign and vacation schedule, wishing the House and Senate would have cut a deal weeks ago. But they don’t want to cross Speaker Nancy Pelosi publicly.
“You will certainly have many vulnerable and front-line Dems really upset about coming back because the Senate told them to — when they feel they are already defending their seats because of Senate inaction over the last year and a half,” a top aide to a usually loyal House Democrat said in an e-mail to POLITICO. - Politico Story
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