Could a "No" vote on Healthcare Reform be costly for Arcuri?
Story Created:
Mar 22, 2010 at 2:45 PM EDT
Story Updated:
Mar 22, 2010 at 3:40 PM EDT
MARCY, N.Y. (WKTV) - Dean of Political Science at SUNYIT Steven Schneider says that it may not have been the best move politically for Congressman Arcuri to vote against his own party.
However, Schneider says it does show the congressman votes on his own beliefs and does not succumb to political pressure.
"He votes against his own party," Schneider said. "Which I think shows a level of independence, but if we're just talking about the politics of it, I wonder to what extent he attracts independents and Republicans who support him. He's already voted for the healthcare initiative in November, now he votes against it. It's not clear to me that the Independents and Republicans would then view him as supporting their cause. I'd worry that from a political perspective, those folks are already mad at him, and now the democrats are mad at him. I'm not sure who he ends up pleasing."
Arcuri believes the Senate's version of healthcare reform passed on Sunday will ultimately raise insurance premiums for those who already have insurance and will also put more people on Medicaid, thus resulting in increased taxes.
If these results do end up being the case, will we see the effects before the election, thus swaying votes in Arcuri's favor, that is, if he does decide to run?
Schneider says probably not.
"I don't think the changes in the healthcare, the possible negative changes are likely to be visible by November. What we're going to have is in the next few months is a rhetorical war, and the Republican party will continue with their rhetoric, that this is going to be really terrible in the future. I don't think that, if it is going to be really terrible, that we're going to see that by the November election, I think there's more of an opportunity to see a slight positive impact between now and November. I don't think we're going to see the dire predictions of the Republican party, and they may come to pass, but I don't think we're going to see that by the fall."
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