“Denny Rehberg’s vote against the tax cut package could be explained by his expected bid for higher office, either Governor or Senator–he’s keeping his options open,” the anonymous liberal blogger Montana Cowgirl suggests.
That post follows this article in The Hill, which noted:
At least eight of the 36 GOP “no” votes came from members thought to be running for the Senate or other higher office in two years, including Rep. Mike Pence (Ind.), a potential GOP presidential hopeful. Check out the full roll call here.
Also voting against the compromise, which passed the House overwhelmingly Thursday, were Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.), Connie Mack (R-Fla.), Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.).
The House Republicans, of course, opposed the compromise for the spending that was added to the measure. This article follows an earlier article in The Politico which noted that all but one of the Freshman Democratic Senators (including Sen. Jon Tester of Montana), up for re-election in 2012, supported the tax compromise.
The National Review, a conservative magazine, added this:
On the Republican side, we see that ambitious GOP pols think GOP primary votes are to be found among the tea-party right. Virtually all of the current House Republicans who are rumored to be looking at a statewide or national race in 2012 — Jason Chaffetz (Utah), Denny Rehberg (Mont.), Pete Hoekstra (Mich.), Connie Mack (Fla.), Jim Jordan (Ohio), Mike Pence (Ind.) and Michele Bachmann (Minn.) — voted no. Clearly this insulates them from challenges to their right or helps them mobilize support on the right for their respective bids.