Holding your nose while voting

Posted at 8:34 AM on December 20, 2005 by Bob Collins

Rep. Mark Kennedy has been put in a tough spot, thanks to the strategy employed by GOP leaders (and even some Democrats, including Rep. John Murtha) in the House to finally get a bill passed allowing drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Leaders attached an amendment appropriating funds for national defense. Kennedy voted for the bill, which passed 308-106 early Monday.

The issue is likely to loom in Kennedy's campaign for the Senate. And, potentially, there's a price to pay for his vote if Kennedy is unsuccesful in separating his vote from his stated position, something that dogged John Kerry in 2004.

Nationwide, a poll in early 2005 found decided opposition to drilling. But that was before high gas prices hit home.

The Minnesota Republican Party clearly is interested in finding out how much this could hurt Kennedy. A poll on the GOPUSA Web site asks visitors to weigh in. An overwhelming 88 percent of the few votes cast when I checked, in showed support for the measure. But 11 percent were opposed. Assuming mostly Republicans visit the Republican Web site, is a 10 percent "alienation factor" among the base significant?

Meanwhile, on the Minnesota DFL Web site, party chair Brian Melendez is resurrecting a familiar - and successful -- term in describing Kennedy's vote: "flip flop." A preview of what's to come?

Curiously, Kennedy's opponents in the race for the Senate are quiet. Neither Amy Klobuchar, Patty Wetterling, or Ford Bell have had anything to say on Kennedy's vote so far. Wetterling's Web site is particularly moribund with the last press release posted October 9th, when she announced her candidacy.

By next week, perhaps, the focus will be off Kennedy and onto Sen. Norm Coleman, another politician who says he's against ANWR drilling, when the issue moves to the Senate.

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