IN MY SHOES: What It’s Like To Be Rep. Bart Stupak
The New York Times profiles Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), a 57-year old former state trooper who put himself through law school at night before pursuing public office:
[H]e is enduring more hatred than perhaps any other member of Congress, much of it from fellow Democrats. His name has become a slogan: “Stop Stupak!”
Scott Schloegel, his chief of staff, said wearily, “I can’t tell you how many New Yorkers have called me up and yelled at me about this Stupak guy.”
With final negotiations on a health care overhaul beginning this week, complaints about “the evil Stupak amendment,” as the congressman dryly called it over dinner here recently, are likely to grow even louder. The amendment prevents women who receive federal insurance subsidies from buying abortion coverage - but critics assert it could cause women who buy their own insurance difficulty in obtaining coverage. …
[T]he congressman described years of feeling ignored, slighted or marginalized by his party for his anti-abortion views.
“We’re members without a party,” he said. “Democrats are mad at you, and Republicans don’t trust you.” …
He cannot run for governor, he continued, because no one with his stands on guns and abortion can win in Michigan. …
He is trying to pass the health care overhaul, he insists, not sabotage it, and predicts that the legislation will ultimately collapse for reasons apart from abortion. But he will be blamed anyway, he is sure.
“I get the distinct impression that I’m the last guy the president wants to see,” he said.
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