The stimulus has passed the Senate and now heads to a conference to iron out the differences between the House and Senate versions. However, the bill only got three Republican votes meaning that it passed 61-37, only avoiding the threat of being filibustered by one vote. Back at the beginning of January, the Obama team were talking about getting 80 votes for the package in the Senate.
The latest polling suggest that Obama is having the better of the public opinion fight over the stimulus. But there must be worry in the Obama camp that they are into partisan warfare so early on in the presidency. This means that they have little to no room for Democratic defections in the Senate, weakening the White House’s negotiation hand with Congressional leadership.
Ironically, the more ground the administration has to cede to Congressional Democrats the more unlikely it is to pick up Republican votes.
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