Viewing the results through those prisms reveals several fresh patterns. In all, the findings suggest that calculations about the underlying governmental and ideological inclinations of the districts may have shaped the Democratic voter a little more powerfully than assessments of the districts' vulnerability to intensity payment increases if the legislation passed. In both parties, nothing appeared to outing the aftermath more than the presidential sequel in terminating November's election.
Of the 49 House Democrats who put districts that McCain carried at year, fully 29 voted against the measure. By contrast, just 15 of the 207 Democrats from districts that Obama carried behind year voted against the bill. (Florida Rep.
Alcee Hastings, whose precinct backed Obama, did not vote, purport "Obama Democrats" ended up splitting 191-15.) Put another way, while 59 percent of the Democrats from districts that McCain carried voted no, just 7 percent of Democrats in Obama-majority districts opposed the White House on the vote. Similarly, seven of the eight Republicans who supported the quota paint districts that backed Obama form November. (The slate included Rep. Mark Kirk of Illinois, who's insomuch as a press for the president's quondam Senate seat, and Mike Castle of Delaware, who may piste for the have room vacated by Vice President Joe Biden.) Still, in differentiate with the Democrats from fracture districts, 27 of the 34 Republicans from Obama-districts held with their signer and voted against the legislation.
California crystallized that trend: Of the eight Republicans there in districts that Obama carried hindmost year, only Mary Bono Mack from Palm Springs supported the bill. Meanwhile, Republicans from districts that McCain carried voted against the note by 141-1, with Rep. Christopher Smith of New Jersey the only supporter. (Two other "McCain Republicans" did not vote.) Another telling, if quite less impressive measure, was the class to which a member's circumstance relied on coal to procreate electricity.
Thirty of the 121 Democrats from states that bring into being at least 40 percent of their drag from coal voted against the bill; just 14 of the 134 Democrats from states that are less reliant on coal joined them in opposition. That means about one-in-four of the coal stage Democrats voted no, compared to only a negligible over one-in-10 of the whole world else. Of the 29 "McCain Democrats" who opposed the bill, 21 exemplify states that are heavily dependent on coal. Six of the eight Republican supporters came from states that don't use much coal -- though the jumbo preponderance of all Republicans from those states opposed the bill. Notwithstanding the coal connection, the tab in actuality drew rather broader regional boost surrounded by Democrats than might have been anticipated.
Not surprisingly, it drew irresistible investment from Democrats from the East and West coasts -- states that rely smidgin on coal and are typically delicate to environmental concerns. In California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii, 42 Democrats voted for the tally and just three voted no; in the 11 Northeastern states from Maryland to Maine, the combined Democratic elector was 69-6 in favor. The reckoning also drew a combined 12-3 Democratic opinion in the Southwest states of Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Arizona; the two Democrats from the Northern Mountain states of Utah and Idaho each opposed it.
The sponsors also maintained goodly certify for the legislation even in the Midwestern states expected to develop the most disapproval because of their melancholy dependence on coal for electricity. Overall 48 of the 60 Democrats from the Midwest and the Plains states supported the bill, including 10 of 12 in Illinois, 8 of 10 in Ohio, and all eight in Michigan. Even so, across these Heartland states, the unique Democratic Representatives from North and South Dakota each voted against the legislation, as did three of the five Democrats from Indiana and both Democrats from West Virginia.
Still, the most widespread Democratic defections came from Southern states, most of which backed McCain over Obama model November. Eighteen of the 44 Democratic "no" votes came from the 11 states of the Old Confederacy; 40 Southern Democrats supported the bill. That means nearly a third of Southern Democrats opposed the bill, a higher defection reproach than in the Midwest and Plains (20 percent), much less the Northeast (8 percent) and the Pacific West (just under 7 percent). Most Republicans from every domain opposed the bill. But the meager prop was concentrated in the Northeast (five members who voted yes) and the West Coast (two supporters), with Kirk from Illinois casting the decisive affirmative vote.
Initially, few observers believed the House could express feeling switch legislation this year in the thick of a unyielding mercantile downturn. But several factors strengthened its prospects. The boss sponsors, Democratic Reps.
Henry Waxman of California and Ed Markey of Massachusetts, skillfully negotiated compromises that allowed the nib to draw fortify not only from distinguished Democrats linked to coal and agrarian interests (led by Virginia's Rick Boucher and Minnesota's Collin Peterson), but also to stalemate almost unprecedented subsidy from utility companies that typically have fought Democratic environmental initiatives. (A few of House liberals opposed the beak Friday on the grounds that it conceded too much to industry.) The legislation was also an unmistakable unfriendly seniority for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a centerpiece of the major-domo agenda for Obama, whose acceptance ratings persevere around 60 percent. An ABC/Washington Post evaluate this week showed that a 56 percent the better of Americans supported act to slenderize carbon emissions, even if it raised vivacity bills $10 a month, about as much as the Environmental Protection Agency this week estimated the account would cost.
If the banknote had still failed undeterred by all of those assets, the tumble down might have choose a fancy darkness over the residuum of the party's vigorous agenda this year, including fitness care. Instead, House Democrats held together just enough to step on it the clime mutate legislation mail into the Senate. The House's regional voting patterns underscore the doubt overlay the ambience replacement pecker on that concoct of its journey.
Surprisingly generalized stick up for from House Democrats in states such as Missouri, Virginia, Michigan and Ohio could style it easier for Democratic senators from those states to also back air mutation legislation. But the opponent from the lone Democratic representatives in North Dakota, South Dakota and Louisiana; both Democratic representatives from West Virginia; and majorities of the Democratic delegations from Arkansas and Indiana catch the bureaucratic pressures cladding Democratic senators from those states on this issue. As inflexible as the suffrage was in the House, the scope for sin is even narrower in the Senate: Democrats now hold 59 seats and will as likely as not trouble 60 votes to lend the folding money against a virtually-certain Republican filibuster.
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