Now that the dust is starting to settle from the historic passage of health care reform, it is time to take an in-depth look at the health care reform vote and the intriguing vote of one Congressional Black Caucus member, Artur Davis of Alabama who did not support the legislation.
I ran some simple analysis and discovered regional support for health care reform in the U.S. House looked something like this:
New England- 95 percent support
Mid-Atlantic- 68 percent support
West- 65 percent support
Midwest- 51 percent support
Mountain West- 50 percent support
South- 31 percent support
Plains- 26 percent support
Read the rest at The Loop.
Monday, April 05, 2010
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4 comments:
I blogged about this last week.As someone who lives in Birmingham and was a supporter of Artur Davis,I was VERY disappointed with his NO vote. He has definitely lost a lot of support in this state.
The sad part is that it's obvious to a blind man that Davis voted against the bill to gain support from Alabama conservatives (whites) during the general election.
Mod, do you think he will still win the Democratic nomination with this loss of support?
Roderick,it's hard to say right now.He upset a lot of people. People aren't upset simply because he voted NO. But the majority of his district is without healthcare. His district is the third poorest congressional district in the COUNTRY. So it was clearly a political move.Now he's running ads on black radio bragging about how he supported the Black Farmers here in Alabama and how he voted against the Bush tax cuts. At the same time on white radio stations,he's running ads about how he voted against "Obamacare". Keep in mind he and the POTUS were very good friends. It's a risky move but it may pay off in the primary. I will say this though,Michael Steele has a better chance of being President of the NAACP than Davis does of getting white conservatives in this state to vote for him.
Thanks for the regional breakdown.
This is what I have believed all along... a stronger anti-Obama mood concentrated in the South. There has been other data/surveys showing the same thing over the last couple of years.
And as for Artur Davis...he is triangulating in a losing cause. That's what blows my mind. I'm not suggesting that he should abandon principles even if he had a shot at winning.... but if you are going to triangulate for White Southern support you should at least do it because you have a realistic shot at winning.
If I know my chances are slim in a Statewide election.... largely because voters will hold race against me no matter what...and they have been brainwashed by right wing ideology and by prejudice passed down from generation to generation... then my calculation would be to stick with my principles. Why abandon core beliefs? What would I be triangulating for? There would be nothing to be gained for it.
So even from a strategic perspective... it doesn't make much sense.
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