On one hand, no sympathy is felt, especially after he co-signed the letter 'inviting' the execs of Caterpillar, ATT and a few others to come to his committee and 'explain themselves', complete with an exhaustive surrender of records, down to emails. This because they obeyed the law, and restated their earnings in the wake of the passage of ObamaCare.
On the other hand--he is an Obama casualty, by his own hand. He bravely held the line against ObamaCare, knowing that it was morally flawed, and let himself get suckered in with the promise of an executive order (that has no force of law). What was he promised? With what was he threatened by the masters of The Chicago Way?
And, then there was that 700K of airport improvements dropped out of the federal helicopter just before his vote. Those funds had been competitively applied for some months ago, and their granting was most likely unrelated to his vote. But, the timing of the announcement certainly emitted a terrible odor.
He was hounded by the left for standing up for life, but his caving in only began the negative reaction. He would stand for re-election totally stripped of any semblance of integrity, in a rural upper Michigan district that is only barely Democrat. If you don't live in a place like that, be assured that rural folk in those environs view this behavior with hostility. When he went home, reports are that the reception was pretty unfriendly. Conservatives around the country were eagerly awaiting the opportunity to donate to, and work for, his Republican challenger.
OS predicts:
1. The right will be blamed, at least for a couple of days. MSNBC will become all-Stupak-all-the-time, and he'll be a regular guest face for Chris Matthews and company. He won't just slink away, with talking points to score.
2. Bart will be owned by Obama for the days that remain, having been pimped. He will discover his Inner Leftist, and the joys of politburo life. He'll be an honored guest at some very nice fund-raiser parties, the poster-child for ObamaCare.
3. After he leaves office next January, he will be quietly moved into a comfortable government or think-tank job, where he can continue to do The Beloved Leader's bidding, at least for a couple of years. That will give him and his bride (who suffered greatly from the experience) time to reassemble their lives, decide where and how they wish to live in retirement. He'll be cast as martyr for the leftist cause, write a book, hit the college lecture circuit, cheer-lead the faithful for 2012. He'll make a bunch of money, land in some poly-sci academic job, and disappear, with his pension and Congressional health-care package.
4. Ten years from now, he will be a footnote or a question on a trivia quiz. In the interim, he will discover that Obama and company cared not a moment for the pains he endured. The other eleven Democrats he took over the cliff with him will be completely unremembered, as they enter private life much less well-cared-for.
The problem with ObamaCare is not just the end product, but the horrific process used to produce it. Stupak is just one example. Most of the last bits of goodwill from Obama's inaguration have now melted away, and it will be a difficult matter to restore it. By June of 2007 G.W. Bush had managed to destroy the Republican party base that propelled him into office in 2000 and 2004. Obama risks doing the same to his faithful followers, less than eighteen months into a first term. What replaces two decimated parties of long standing is anyone's guess.
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