The bravely flip-flopping Republican congressman from New Orleans, Anh “Joseph” Cao, has inspired a recall petition. The reason: his vote against the economic stimulus package in a district that voted 74-25 for President Obama over Sen. John McCain.
Frederick the Great once said that, in a successful army, the soldiers would be more afraid of their officers than the enemy. I guess the right has taken old Frederick's advice to heart. In any event, the fact that the GOP leadership decided to go all in on this measure, to provoke an ideological war seems particularly nuts considering that the measure was a) broadly supported by a b) popular president, and c) allows future Democrats to say that Republicans voted against jobs and tax cuts. Not that they should just necessarily have voted for the thing, but why would representatives in blue districts even bother to follow the leadership's direction on this? What are they gonna get? The blessing of people whose disapproval ratings are similar to Jeremiah Wright's? In New Orleans I suspect Boehner's approval ratings are closer to Saddam Hussein's.
I suspect Mr. Cao's days as a representative are numbered. Seriously, if you're a Republican in a D+26 district you have to be smarter than this, unless you're hoping to preserve sterling right-wing credentials to move up the GOP ladder. Since Republicans tend to foist incapable token mediocrities upon us all the time I suspect this is the end game. What else could it be? Solidifying that base of New Orleans Republicans? And why flip-flop at all? Principled opposition might gain you some points. I guess this needs to be filed under things I don't understand.
