Speaking of the Senate race, an article in The American Spectator says Brad Ellsworth's Senate candidacy will be an important test: "Does Rahm Emanuel's strategy for turning red states blue still work in 2010 -- or has Rahm's boss turned those states red again?" In 2006, when George W. Bush's approval ratings had tanked, the GOP's reputation was in tatters and the war in Iraq was immensely unpopular, Ellsworth ran for the House as a pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, anti-illegal immigration Democrat. But now he has a record:
Ellsworth voted for the $787 billion stimulus package that began the Obama-Pelosi-Reid spending spree. But he was against the stimulus before he was for it -- he actually voted against the original House-passed version, claiming "there were far too many provisions that would provide little to no economic stimulus." Then he took a ride on Air Force One with the president, who was able to bring him into line. After the conference report, Ellsworth voted for the final version of the bill.
He also voted for the health care reform bill, after campaigning in 2008 as an opponent of a federal government takeover of health care. He's been conservative in some of his votes -- against cap and trade, for example -- but he can't campaign now as quite the blue dog he has protrayed himself as being.
