Obama to Health Turncoats: You're On Your Own

The five Democrats who switched their health care votes from “yea” to “nay” have a lot fewer friends in Washington these days—and it'll likely hurt them at home. The White House and organized labor groups tell Politico they won’t help, and may actively oppose, their reelection campaigns. “We’re looking at candidates we can trust to run against them,” says one Service Employees International Union official. “They should not expect help from us.” The AFL-CIO says they’ll “have a lot of work to do” if they want union endorsements.

Nor will they get any campaign trail help from the president. “There is not a whole lot of Barack Obama and Joe Biden to spare on a good day,” says Robert Gibbs. “We’re going to have to focus on our friends.” Administration officials are particularly annoyed because they see the votes as politically illogical. The lawmakers already faced GOP attacks based on their original yes votes; now, they’ve angered the base as well. (More health care reform stories.)