EDITORIAL: Bailout battleground

By | Thursday, October 2, 2008

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There is no definitive way to determine how the proposed $700 billion financial bailout will affect the presidential election. But it is clear that its impact on House elections was a huge factor in its defeat on Monday, when one looks at how House members from the presidential-battleground states voted.

John McCain and Barack Obama — and the senators who support the bailout — should take note.

Of the nine battleground states — New Hampshire, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Colorado and Nevada — only Ohio's support for the bailout was inconclusive. Nine members of its congressional delegation supported it and nine members voted against it. That is telling, because Ohio had the third highest foreclosure totals — 13,457 at the end of July. A House bill that was marketed as a way to fix the housing crisis should have done a lot better among Ohio's House delegation.

While Ohio congressmen gave only a glimpse into the uncertainty about the proposal, Florida showed a clear mistrust for it. Florida had 45,884 foreclosure filings as of July — only California was higher — and its 25-member delegation voted 14-11 against the bailout. Those opposed were 13 Republicans and Tampa Democrat Kathy Castor whose 11th Congressional District, steeped in the foreclosure crisis, hasn't seated a Republican since it was created in 1963.

North Carolina showed similar results with 9 of the 13 members voting against it. Most are Republicans. But three Democrats — G.K. Butterfield, Mike McIntyre and Heath Shuler — the latter two from competitive districts voted against the bailout. The unease was evident in virtually every battleground state delegation we looked at. Pennsylvania voted 10-9 against, Nevada 2-1, Virginia 6-5, Colorado 4-3, Missouri 5-4 and New Hampshire 2-0. Not one delegation in the nine battleground states unanimously approved the bill - in fact most didn't support it.

The Senate has revealed its hand and the House will revisit its proposal; the McCain and Obama campaigns know that there will be a heavy price to pay come November.

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