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Morning Jolt

. . . with Jim Geraghty



February 3, 2011

In This Issue . . .

3. At Least the Senate Finally Voted

3. At Least the Senate Finally Voted

Yeah, we knew the vote to repeal Obamacare wouldn't get a majority, but it was a little surprising that not a single red-state Democrat cared enough about his or her reelection prospects to sign on: "The Senate on Wednesday voted down a repeal of President Obama's healthcare law in a 47-51 party-line vote. The vote came two weeks to the day the Republican House voted 245-189 to repeal the law, and just days after a federal judge ruled Obama's signature legislative achievement is unconstitutional. Neither the result nor vote breakdown were surprises. No Democrats in attendance voted in favor of the measure and no Republicans rejected it. Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) were absent for the vote."

Jeff G. at Protein Wisdom writes, "The way forward is now clear: the House must work on refusing funding; the states given injunctive relief need to stop complying, in lieu of the federal government getting a stay; the GOP must bring the vote in both Houses consistently; and in the run-up to 2012, the defeat of ObamaCare needs to be tied to the defeat of Obama and any Democrats in the Senate. The electability question as pertains to the kinds of 'moderates' and 'independents' we conservatives / classical liberals hope to attract? Should be answered, on their part, with 'anyone but Obama or the Democrats.'"