Bailout vote could claim GOP lawmakers

June 22, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

One Republican senator lost his job because he voted for the 2008 bank bailout. Two other GOP lawmakers may be next.

Former President George W. Bush’s lifeline to financial institutions is roiling GOP primaries, with Republicans who reluctantly supported it facing the ire of conservatives furious about budget-busting spending and tea partiers grousing that Wall Street came before Main Street.

Economists credit the bailout with staving off deeper economic turmoil. Banks have paid back much of the money — plus interest. And GOP lawmakers were being loyal Republicans in following the wishes of their president.

Yet some GOP primary voters seem to be ignoring all that in what’s shaping up to be an anti-establishment election year. Republican and Democratic pollsters alike say that when it comes to the bailout vote, people seem to see Washington and Wall Street in the same light — conspiring against taxpayers.

That’s especially problematic for Republican lawmakers who face an electorate dominated by fiscal conservatives and tea party faithful. Thus, in dozens of House, Senate and gubernatorial races, Republican lawmakers are struggling to explain their support for a bailout that to many symbolizes government overreach.

“I had to make a decision based on the information that I had at the time. And I did. And I voted for it,” four-term Rep. Gresham Barrett said last week, repeating a poll-tested answer during a South Carolina gubernatorial debate after opponent Nikki Haley asked him if his vote were a mistake.

South Carolina six-term Rep. Bob Inglis, who also voted for the bailout, also finds himself explaining his bailout vote.

Americans always were skeptical of the $700 billion package that Bush rolled out in 2008 after a series of bank failures. Any support that was there for the measure dropped significantly as top officials at bailed-out institutions were paid handsome bonuses and high salaries.