In a roundup of some House races, Jim Geraghty at National Review comments on Suzanne Kosmas’ district:
Kosmas defied her district by voting for health-care reform, and many figured she had traded her vote to the Obama administration for some sort of deal to save Space Coast jobs. Instead, President Obama’s space-policy changes are effectively ending manned spaceflight, disastrous news for workers in her district.
I don’t know who figured that she had made such a trade, or how that was supposed to work, but the new policy is not “effectively ending manned spaceflight.” As I’ve explained myself at National Review, in fact, it was the Bush/Griffin policy that was doing that, in wasting money on an unaffordable and unnecessary new rocket that was extending the post-Shuttle gap into the indefinite future. The new policy could have a (commercial) crew delivery system in as little as four years, given proper (and comparatively modest) funding, while allowing the agency to focus instead on human exploration beyond earth orbit.
None of which is to say, of course, that Kosmas should necessarily be reelected.
[Update a while later]
Jim has updated his post to note that this assessment is that of the Republican candidate, and not necessarily his own.
I live in Kosmas’s district and it has much more to do with then just her health care vote, it started with the Stimulus and really went down hill with her vote on Cap and Trade. She hasn’t represented us on anything including the space vote. She has pretty much been a rubber stamp for everything Comrade Speaker wants passed.
Until then, we have to rent a ride on Russian flights.
Our ability to function economically is dependent on China.
We used to dominate Russia and China, and now we apologize to them routinely, and cannot get them to allow us to defend ourselves against Iran and N Korea.
Being the “Space District” we are passionate about American Exceptionalism, and this current crop have presided over an apologetic America in decline.
46 days left, Kosmas.
In this district, people were affected by health care reform as our companies dropped our coverage, or doubled our costs.
46 days left, Kosmas.
In this district, we saw our credit card limits reduced to our current balances and our interest rates tripled due to financial reform that was supposed to address Wall Street.
46 days left.
Betrayed? Yes. Enraged? You have no idea.
And all your equivocating in the world about whether space flight has been cancelled doesnt change what we see happening with our eyes, sir.
We know Bush and a RINO congress supported these steps, and spent us into poverty, and good riddance to all of them. Now this current group is even worse, and spent us into national weakness. Out go those bums now.
In come the constitutional conservatives. Time to stop remaking America in the image of California.
Red November. 46 days.