July 31, 2006
House Race Hotline Update: Divide And Conquer
While Dems have gotten the lion's share of attention over their internal discord, there's division among GOPers on key midterm legislation as the House heads to recess.
Immigration: In the House, most GOPers are talking tough on the need for tighter border security. But there's a simmering debate over whether it's better to reach a resolution before the midterms or use the deadlock to rally conservative voters to the polls.
Minimum Wage: House GOP leaders are trying to tie a minimum wage increase to small businesses' ability to pool health insurance. Dems, not wanting to hand vulnerable GOPers an election-year victory, are whipping against including such a "poison pill." And some conservatives won't support any minimum wage increase. Losing their own vote would be a serious summer setback for GOPers.
Stem Cell Research: The vote to override Pres. Bush's veto largely split GOPers along regional lines. Most Northeastern and suburban members support expanding federal funding, while the majority of the caucus agrees with Bush.
But while the GOP caucus is looking fractured, do Dems have enough discipline to take advantage of the divide? [JOSH KRAUSHAAR]
Posted at 01:40 PM
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