New Englanders Split On Bailout
Barney Frank was the public face of the bailout bill, but three of his own delegation voted against him today. Delahunt, Lynch, and Tierney from Massachusetts all voted no. Capuano, Frank, Markey, McGovern, Neal, Olver, and Tsongas voted yes.
Both of New Hampshire's freshmen Democrats in Congress -- Hodes and Shea-Porter, both facing re-election challenges -- voted against the bailout bill.
Maine's two congressmen, both Democrats, split. Allen -- currently running for Senate -- voted yes, while Michaud voted no.
Rhode Island's two Democrats, Kennedy and Langevin, both voted yes.
Vermont's only congressman, Welch, voted no.
Connecticut was an interesting split, with New England's only Republican in the US House voting yes on the bailout -- he is in a heavily Manhattan-commuting area, remember -- along with Dems DeLaura, Larson, and Murphy. Courtney voted no.
Altogether, New England went 14-8 for the bailout bill, including 13-8 among the Democrats. That's about the same voting rate as Democrats in the House generally.