For GOP, a grim week in D.C., elsewhere

[October 03, 2008]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- A month before Election Day, things are hardly grand for the Grand Old Party.

Presidential nominee John McCain is lagging in key polls. Party officials are bracing for likely losses of House and Senate seats, which would put them even deeper into minority status. And the economy, for which voters trust Democrats more than Republicans, is by far the top campaign issue.

But nothing has exposed the depth of the party's problems and disarray more than this week's House rejection of a massive financial rescue bill, which was backed by McCain, GOP congressional leaders and, most forcefully, President Bush, still the party's titular head.

Two-thirds of the House's 199 Republicans voted against it. That is a remarkable revolt against any party's establishment.

To top it off, McCain, the GOP standard-bearer this fall, took a fresh shot at his party Thursday, focusing on pork barrel spending.

"There's a handful of us that have been fighting and warning that this could be incredibly harmful to the Republican Party," he told MSNBC. "We came to power in '94 to change Washington, and Washington changed us."

Events are trending against Republicans on many fronts. McCain has abandoned efforts to carry Michigan, once a top target. Several key Senate races, including those in Oregon and North Carolina, show Democratic challengers making strong gains against GOP incumbents.

Just as Democrats are often split between their hard-core liberal base and less dogmatic members, so Republicans must always balance their hard-right devotees and their more moderate voters. Sometimes the divisions are worse than others (ask Democrats about 1972 and 1984).

This year, the Republican rift is severe, but it is playing out more dramatically in Congress than in the presidential race, where McCain has done a reasonably good job of keeping staunch conservatives from bolting.

In Congress, and especially in the House, hard-charging conservative Republicans seem beyond the reach of their president, their own chosen leaders and their presidential nominee. With their constituents' phone calls running overwhelmingly against the $700 billion rescue package, they seem almost offended by calls for a pragmatic, swallow-your-medicine solution to the economic crisis.

"Our conference is dominated by people from districts so red," said one frustrated House GOP aide, referring to solidly conservative districts that Democrats have no chance of winning. "They sit and froth among themselves," the aide said, sometimes making it counterproductive for party leaders to hold large meetings seeking compromise.

Bush used a rare prime-time TV address last week to plead for passage of the financial plan in dire terms. "Our entire economy is in danger," he said. "America could slip into a financial panic."

It had virtually no effect. The latest Washington Post-ABC News poll found Bush's approval rating at its lowest point ever, 26 percent.

House Republican leaders can salvage some of their pride if at least 12 lawmakers who voted "no" on Monday switch to "yes" in a showdown vote on a revised version of the financial package, scheduled for Friday.

Even if that happens, however, the recipe will prove distasteful to many Republicans. Senate Democrats largely shaped the revised legislation. Worse, it is designed essentially to buy specific House members' votes, with billions of dollars worth of tax cuts and other sweeteners aimed at lawmakers or groups who might switch.

No one has faced more pressure than House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio, a generally well-liked, cigarette-smoking, golf-loving veteran legislator.

On Sept. 24, he issued a statement with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., suggesting that Bush's $700 billion proposal should be tweaked, but not completely rewritten. "It must include basic good-government principles, including rigorous and independent oversight, strong executive compensation standards and protections for taxpayers," the two said.

The next day, in a White House summit meeting that dissolved into chaos, Boehner announced the Bush plan could not pass because of fierce resistance from House conservatives.

On Monday, he choked up on the House floor as he implored colleagues to cast a courageous vote for the bill. An hour later, he blamed its defeat on a partisan speech by Pelosi.

The next day, Boehner backtracked, realizing the complaint made it seem that some Republicans had voted out of pique, not conviction.

The past 10 days have been so rocky for Boehner that some lawmakers predict a younger colleague will try to oust him from his post next year. Others, however, say most rank-and-file Republicans are grateful that Boehner eschews the bullying, arm-twisting tactics of his predecessor, Tom DeLay of Texas.

"I think people will give him a lot of leeway," said Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., who voted against the financial rescue package but nonetheless appreciates the tough balancing act Boehner faces.

Democrats have refrained from piling on Boehner, hoping to gain enough GOP converts to pass the financial bill Friday. But his Democratic counterpart, Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, couldn't resist a small dig Thursday that captured the grim Republican landscape.

"I think the Republican leaders were very disappointed that they didn't get many more of their members to support what their president asked them to do," Hoyer told reporters. Boehner, he said, "was the only Republican to vote for it in the state of Ohio. I think he must have been disappointed by that."

[Associated Press; By CHARLES BABINGTON]

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