National Journal's Erin McPike reports:
House Democrats are starting to worry that Republican efforts to put a dent in the support of newer members who voted in favor of climate change legislation are having an impact, in part because allies on the left have left them hanging.
"This is a troubling sign for some of these members who knew they were taking a very tough vote ahead of possible upcoming votes on healthcare and the Employee Free Choice Act," one senior House Democratic aide said Wednesday.
The aide said members who took the politically risky votes were expecting "cover" afterward from the groups and businesses that pressured them to vote for the bill. But those efforts have not developed.
Read the whole thing here, but if this thing collapses in the Senate, as many expect it will, there will be a lot of Dems left twisting in the wind. Leadership will have forced them to take a tough vote for no reason, and they might not be quite so willing to do the same the next time around, on health care for example.
