Bachmann Voting Record Is 2nd Least Supportive of Obama in U.S. House

Last month a Smart Politics analysis of the most conservative members of the U.S. House (as determined by National Journal’s annual rankings) found Representative Michele Bachmann to have received the smallest margin of victory of the 44 most conservative Republicans who won reelection in 2008. That blog explained how none of these nearly four-dozen conservative House Republicans represents a more vulnerable seat than Bachmann’s, few represent a more moderate congressional district, and thus few put as much political capital at risk when carving out such a conservative stance as the Congresswoman.

In short, Bachmann’s policy positions are, politically, quite bold for her district.

New House voting data, provided this time by Congressional Quarterly, bolsters the notion that Michele Bachmann indeed has the boldest voting record on the Republican side of the aisle.

Bachmann’s voting record through the first half of 2009 is tied for the second least supportive of President Barack Obama’s stated policy and legislative preferences. At just 10 percent agreement, Bachmann’s adversarial voting record with the President is only eclipsed by Representative Jeff Flake (AZ-06) among the 178-member Republican caucus.

Bachmann even voted against the President’s stated preferences more than House Minority Leader John Boehner (OH-08). Boehner voted with the President 15 percent of the time.

Bachmann, of course, has been a very outspoken critic of Obama and many of his policies, particularly on federal stimulus spending and cap-and-trade energy legislation. The Congresswoman appeared on Fox TV’s Hannity Wednesday night to criticize Barack Obama’s fiscal policy and Democratic plans to spend TARP money as opposed to return it to the taxpayers.

What makes Bachmann unique among her colleagues in her staunch opposition to the President, however, is the different partisan makeup between her 6th Congressional District and those other House Republicans who have voted against the president by a similarly large percentage.

For example, John McCain carried Bachmann’s district by just 9 points in the 2008 election. Meanwhile, Georgia Congressman Nathan Deal (GA-09) and South Carolina Representative J. Gresham Barrett (SC-03), who, like Bachmann also only supported the president’s policy in 10 percent of their votes cast in the House, represent districts carried by McCain by 52 and 29 points respectively. Representative Flake’s district voted for McCain by 23 points.

And of the 40 House Republicans who voted with Obama 20 percent of the time or less so far this year, only 6 represent districts in which McCain did not win by double digits. Two of these are from Minnesota: Bachmann (9 points) and John Kline (MN-02, 2 points). (The others are Mike Pence (IN-09), Pete Sessions (TX-32), Ed Royce (CA-40), and Bob Latta (OH-05)).

Top House Republicans Voting Against Barack Obama’s Policies, January-June 2009

Rank	Seat	Representative	Pres Support	McCain MoV
1	AZ-06	Jeff Flake	5	23
2	MN-06	Michele Bachmann	10	9
2	GA-09	Nathan Deal	10	52
2	SC-03	J. Gresham Barrett	10	29
5	AZ-02	Trent Franks	12	23
5	AZ-03	John Shadegg	12	14
5	IN-06	Mike Pence	12	6
5	TN-07	Marhsa Blackburn	12	31
5	TX-05	Jeb Hersarling	12	27
5	TX-19	Randy Neugebauer	12	45
11	TX-32	Pete Sessions	13	7
11	UT-01	Rob Bishop	13	31
13	CA-40	Ed Royce	15	5
13	CO-05	Doug Lamborn	15	19
13	FL-01	Jeff Miller	15	35
13	GA-07	John Linder	15	21
13	NC-05	Virginia Foxx	15	23
13	NC-10	Patrick McHenry	15	27
13	NJ-05	Scott Garrett	15	11
13	OH-08	John Boehner	15	23
13	TX-03	Sam Johnson	15	15
13	TX-11	K. Michael Conaway	15	51
13	TX-13	William Thornberry	15	53
13	TX-14	Ron Paul	15	33
13	UT-03	Jason Chaffetz	15	38
26	FL-14	Connie Mack	16	15
26	GA-06	Tom Price	16	28
26	GA-10	Paul Broun	16	25
26	TX-22	Pete Olson	16	17
26	TX-26	Michael Burgess	16	17
31	GA-03	Lynn Westmoreland	17	29
32	CA-04	Tom McClintock	19	10
32	IA-05	Steve King	19	11
32	NE-03	Adrian Smith	19	39
32	OH-04	Jim Jordan	19	22
32	OH-05	Bob Latta	19	8
32	TX-08	Kevin Brady	19	48
32	WI-05	Jim Sensenbrenner	19	17
39	MN-02	John Kline	20	2
39	WY-AL	Cynthia Lummis	20	32

Note: Congressional Quarterly data compiled by Smart Politics.

Bachmann ended her segment on Hannity Wednesday by stating the American public has “buyer’s remorse” from electing Obama and the Democrats who have controlled Congress since 2007.

Bachmann also predicted Republicans have a “very good chance to win the majority in the House” in 2010.

Hannity affectionately referred to Bachmann on his program as the “second most hated Republican woman after Sarah Palin.” Representative Bachmann called that “high praise.”

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