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Voting against health care won’t spare Dems from GOP attacks

If Congressman Jason Altmire (D-4) was hoping his recent vote against health care reform legislation would make it less likely that Republicans will come after him hard in 2010, he should think again.

“It won’t change it at all,” state GOP chairman Robert Gleason said of the party’s political calculus going into next year’s midterm elections. “A congressman is not responsible for just a single vote, he’s responsible for all his votes.”

Gleason’s comments came on a conference call with reporters Monday afternoon, during which he decried the legislation now moving through the Senate as an “awful plan” and an “Obama concoction.”

Altmire, who explained his vote in a recent op-ed, and Congressman Tim Holden (D-17) were the only two House Democrats from Pennsylvania to oppose the legislation earlier this month. Republicans have been hoping to recruit a strong challenger against Altmire, in particular, and Gleason said there was still plenty of material that the party could bring against the sophomore congressman, and Holden, in a campaign.

“They voted for the stimulus package and some other things we’ll be calling them to task for,” Gleason said.

November 23, 2009 at 1:52 pm

--Dan Hirschhorn

Tags: Jason Altmire, PA-3

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