INSIDE WASHINGTON

Congressional Insiders Poll

by Richard E. Cohen and Peter Bell

Saturday, May 23, 2009


Click here to see how prominent political bloggers responded to these questions.

Q: Has Nancy Pelosi helped or hurt herself as speaker with her handling of the waterboarding controversy?

Democrats (34 votes)

Helped herself a lot      0 percent
Helped herself a little  12 percent
Hurt herself a little    71 percent
Hurt herself a lot       12 percent
Neither (volunteered)     6 percent

Helped herself a little

"CIA is trained to deceive. The truth will prove Nancy right."

"At the end of the day, it was the Bush administration that conducted the waterboarding. And even more importantly, she is not condoning the behavior now."

Hurt herself a little

"No one better-interpreted the intelligence leading up to the Iraq war, but this controversy has obscured her good judgment. Most people don't care about what was said to whom in classified meetings six or seven years ago."

"The focus needs to be on the Bush administration--and not what they knew, but what they did and when they did it."

"When she reported the CIA misled her, she invited the Republicans to attack. And we know the CIA never lies, because we found the WMDs in Iraq! And, of course, the public needs the reminder that we could enjoy a different speaker. Thanks, Newt."

"There have been too many comments from her office. There should have been an end of story."

Neither

"No effect."

"In the last analysis, the record that stands is the Bush administration's record of torture, 'black' CIA prison sites, lying about taking our country to war, and renditions. What a catastrophe for our great country to have fallen so low."

Q: Has Nancy Pelosi helped or hurt herself as speaker with her handling of the waterboarding controversy?

Republicans (43 votes)

Helped herself a lot      0 percent
Helped herself a little   0 percent
Hurt herself a little    16 percent
Hurt herself a lot       81 percent
Both helped and hurt 
  herself (volunteered)   2 percent

Hurt herself a little

"Calling the intelligence community liars is not a smart move. Has hurt her credibility, but the damage is certainly not fatal."

"She has given the media a story that isn't 'Obama's great.' And that makes it tougher to push health care changes and gas taxes."

"[House Minority Leader John] Boehner was smart in forcing her hand this weekend."

"The speaker had a rare lapse in terms of message discipline that's allowed us to change the conversation on this issue."

Hurt herself a lot

"She has tainted a very good issue for the Democrats that would have allowed them to keep an unpopular president's policies at the forefront."

"A politically toxic speaker who remains in place is a huge victory for Republicans."

"Effective leadership requires credibility. And hers is badly damaged."

"And chilled our intelligence services from providing warnings of future attacks."

"Highly unlikely that the CIA lied to her."

"She and the Democrats thought they could just keep clawing at George W. Keeps their base motivated. And they erroneously assumed the CIA would keep quiet."

"She undermined her own credibility with the media, gave the GOP an issue, embarrassed her own team, reminded the public that liberal Democrats are not to be trusted on national security issues, and picked a fight with the Obama administration. It was the type of personal debacle that Gingrich committed when he involved himself in a private book deal or complained about exiting from the rear of Air Force One: not fatal, but damaging, demeaning, and defining."

"Are you kidding with this question? This is the most egregious example of overreaching in her entire speakership."

"Please, please keep talking."

"She's an embarrassment to Congress."

Q: What is your view of including a new public insurance plan in health care reform?

Democrats (34 votes)

Excluding it would be a deal-breaker        62 percent
I want it, but inclusion is not essential   29 percent
I oppose it, but exclusion is not essential  6 percent
Including it would be a deal-breaker         0 percent
None of the above (volunteered )             3 percent

Excluding it would be deal-breaker

"Without a public plan, it is total capitulation to the insurance industry. And we know what they have done to us."

"The public deserves the same service that members of Congress and federal employees receive, a public health insurance option."

"It is critical that Congress step in and exercise its obligation to protect the health of American families and the financial future of our country. A public option will bring greater competition to the marketplace while providing the public with more options for better health care."

"Americans deserve the choice to have quality care like I have."

"It should have as its foundation community health centers. They are the best vehicle for prevention efforts."

"I think that many members want to see this included. And it would be a problem if it is not."

"The American people did not vote for incremental change last November. Now is the time for the bold action needed to fix our broken health care system."

"Why bother? To leave insurance companies alone in charge just rearranges the deck chairs on the health care Titanic."

Want it, but inclusion not essential

"May be essential to some of the outside groups, but I need to see the whole package before I decide."

None of the above

"None of the above. We need all options on the table."

Q: What is your view of including a new public insurance plan in health care reform?

Republicans (42 votes)

Excluding it would be a deal-breaker         0 percent
I want it, but inclusion is not essential    2 percent
I oppose it, but exclusion is not essential 14 percent
Including it would be a deal-breaker        83 percent

Oppose it, but exclusion not essential

"As usual, the devil is in the detail."

Including it would be deal-breaker

"Big Government is not the answer."

"Republicans neither can nor will vote for a public plan as a component of health care reform. To attract bipartisan support, reform must be like Medicare Part D--market-based, choice-driven, and operated by private interests. Government can provide a mandate, financial incentives, and a framework but should neither operate the system nor become the insurer of last resort. That would lead to a single-payer system."

"A public, government-run, bureaucratic option would crowd out those who currently enjoy health insurance, pushing them into the government system, which is already facing funding shortfalls in Medicare. It is the line in the sand, and public support will crumble if Washington Democrats think they can pass it."

"A public plan is a deal-breaker, but it's not the only one. Rationing care and limiting treatments, for example, will play a big role in this debate."

"The path that is being discussed will ultimately diminish the quality of care and participation in the current employer-based systems."

"A public option becomes the only option."

"Including a new public insurance plan will lead to a government-run, single-payer, rationed system."

"The ultimate goal of a public insurance plan is to create a single-payer system."

"Front door, back door, side door--apparently whatever it takes to get socialized health care."

"Why on earth would we want another health care program modeled after Medicare and Medicaid? Because they are such stellar models for well-run, top-notch health care? Not!"

"Please, please push for this, Madam Speaker, Leader Reid. Beating you over the head with government-run, rationed health care is pure joy."

National Journal Insiders

Democratic Congressional Insiders Sens. Sherrod Brown, Ben Cardin, Thomas Carper, Christopher Dodd, Edward Kennedy, Frank Lautenberg, Barbara Mikulski, Mark Pryor, Jon Tester; Reps. Jason Altmire, Robert Andrews, Michael Arcuri, Tammy Baldwin, Melissa Bean, Xavier Becerra, Howard Berman, Marion Berry, Rick Boucher, Michael Capuano, Dennis Cardoza, Chris Carney, James Clyburn, Jim Cooper, Joseph Crowley, Elijah Cummings, Artur Davis, Diana DeGette, Rosa DeLauro, Eliot Engel, Anna Eshoo, Sam Farr, Chaka Fattah, Bob Filner, Phil Hare, Alcee Hastings, Rush Holt, Mike Honda, Steve Israel, Frank Kratovil, Jim Langevin, John Lewis, Zoe Lofgren, Nita Lowey, Carolyn Maloney, Ed Markey, Jim McDermott, Jim McGovern, Kendrick Meek, Jim Moran, David Price, Silvestre Reyes, Jan Schakowsky, Mark Schauer, Jose Serrano, Adam Smith, John Spratt, Pete Stark, John Tanner, Ellen Tauscher, Bennie Thompson, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Henry Waxman, and Peter Welch.

GOP Congressional Insiders Sens. Lamar Alexander, Jim Bunning, John Cornyn, Jim DeMint, John Ensign, Lindsey Graham, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Johnny Isakson, Richard Lugar, Mel Martinez, Lisa Murkowski, Jeff Sessions, Olympia Snowe, John Thune, David Vitter; Reps. Michele Bachmann, Brian Bilbray, Marsha Blackburn, Roy Blunt, John Boehner, Charles Boustany, Kevin Brady, John Campbell, Eric Cantor, John Carter, Michael Castle, Tom Cole, Mike Conaway, David Dreier, Jeff Flake, Scott Garrett, Bob Goodlatte, Kay Granger, Doc Hastings, Pete Hoekstra, Bob Inglis, Darrell Issa, Peter King, Jack Kingston, Mark Kirk, John Kline, Christopher Lee, Dan Lungren, Kenny Marchant, Kevin McCarthy, Patrick McHenry, John Mica, Candice Miller, Sue Myrick, Devin Nunes, Mike Pence, Tom Price, Adam Putnam, Dave Reichert, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Mike Rogers of Michigan, Peter Roskam, Paul Ryan, Pete Sessions, John Shadegg, Adrian Smith, Mark Souder, Pat Tiberi, Fred Upton, and Joe Wilson.

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