Source: St.迷利倉 Louis Post-DispatchOct. 05--WASHINGTON --Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt likens the House Republican offensive against the Affordable Care Act to a rescue effort with no hope of success."It was sort of like you see somebody drowning and you can't swim, but you jump in the water anyway. You're not going to save them," Blunt said.Blunt, a Republican, is unfailingly critical of the new health insurance law and usually armed with better information than others making the same case.Even so, a faction of "Tea Party Republicans" has ignored counsel from GOP veterans such as Blunt about the government shutdown, illustrating divisions reshaping the party and perhaps threatening GOP hopes to regain the U.S. Senate next year.A CBS News poll last week found that nearly three-fourths of respondents thought "Obamacare" should not have been used to stop government funding. And more blame is landing on Republicans than on President Barack Obama, 44 percent to 35 percent.Republicans respond by predicting that Washington in general -- and not the GOP -- will bear the brunt of Americans' frustration.They point out, too, that people increasingly support the GOP call for negotiations to end the impasse while wearying of harsh rhetoric such as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's reference to Tea Party stalwarts as "anarchists."Underlying the drama are shifting allegiances in the GOP that suggest a party loosened from its moorings.House Republicans prolonging the fight ignore not just party elders but the warnings of chambers of commerce and other business groups about the consequences of a government shutdown."To some of these newer Republicans in Congress, the party is no longer as important as ideology," said Joel Goldstein, a St. Louis University law professor.Political historian Allan Lichtman, of American University, likens shifts occurring in the GOP to other notable changes in party alignments over the years -- the Democratic coalition that took shape under Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930s and even the 19th-century Whig Party, which eventually died out."But I've never seen a party so willing to hurt the country in pursuit of an ideological agenda in a game they can't win," Lichtman said, referring to the potential debt default looming in mid-October.Moderate House Republicans such as Rep. Peter King of New York have become increasingly vocal, pointing to "craziness" in the GOP caucus and accusing Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Tea Party leaders of taking the U.S. House hostage.But moderates have yet to tip the political scale toward backing away from what has often seemed a quixotic fight. They don't always argue forcefully in caucuses, GOP House members say.With political stakes high and criticism mounting, House Republicans pressed ahead last week and this weekend with piecemeal reopening plans that had no chance of success. But just taking the votes put pressure on vulnerable Democrats and can yield political points for the GOP.For now, Republicans are keeping their feet on the accelerator like drivers in the snow who know that if their wheels stop, they will be stuck.Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Ballwin, is a longtime Re自存倉ublican activist who chaired Blunt's Senate campaign in 2010. But unlike Blunt, Wagner -- now the elected leader of House GOP House freshman class -- has sided with the conservatives. Wagner is out front pressing Democrats to negotiate on the Affordable Care Act before she will agree to end the shutdown.Last week, she sparred with CNN's Wolf Blitzer about who bears shutdown blame. Her letter declining salary during the breakdown had been viewed by 17.4 million people on Facebook as of Friday."We need to sit down and solve this problem so people can have certainty in their lives and know that the greatest government in the world is functioning," she said.Rep. Jason Smith, R-Sullivan, became the newest member of Congress after winning a special election in June. He promptly joined the right-leaning Republican Study Group, solidifying the conservative credentials of the Missouri delegation.Smith is among Republicans talking about rewards down the line as his party negotiates dangerous turf. Economists said the shutdown had cost the economy over $1 billion in its first days. The Treasury Department warned last week that a debt default could have repercussions like the 2008 economic collapse, "or worse.""My hope is that what comes out of this is like what came after '95 and '96 -- three balanced budgets and welfare reform," he said, referring to the shutdowns nearly two decades ago.The GOP may have enjoyed policy successes, but Bill Clinton was easily re-elected. GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich lost his job in 1998. And Democrats gained five Senate seats that year, the time in a two-term presidency when the out-of-power party usually scores big.Missouri Republican chairman Ed Martin says hard-liners in the Missouri delegation have nothing to worry about at election time."Many of the districts are gerrymandered in a way that they are just safe," he said.Martin, who has been aligned with the Tea Party, argues that many Americans -- not just Republicans and the Tea Party -- believe that "the federal government has gotten so big, so massive and so expensive that we have to stop it."John C. Danforth, a moderate Republican, was a U.S. senator from Missouri for 18 years. He hasn't been shy over the years criticizing elements of his party, but he sees plenty of blame in the situation at hand.Tea Party Republicans, he said, "don't want compromise. They don't want any political process, either. They're the mirror image of (Barack) Obama and Harry Reid. If you vote against them, they will run somebody against you in the primary."But Danforth, 77, says that what is driving Republicans to extremes is being shut out of the process by Democrats."Republicans ask, 'What can we do to participate?' And the answer today is that there isn't anything for them. They are neutered, and that's not acceptable for someone who is in politics. Why be in politics?"Danforth added "The stuff of politics, which is compromise, is gone. It's gone from both sides, and that's the tragedy here."Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Visit the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at .stltoday.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesmini storage
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