42

As the healthcare debate roils, the partisan sniping goes on unabated. Democrats are arguing that Republians, by opposing President Obama’s bill (and the speed with which he wants to pass it), are seeking to destroy the presidency.

While Republicans have certainly been aggressive in criticizing what would amount to government control over healthcare and a massive tax increase in the middle of a recession, Democrats must, to borrow from the title of an Elvis Presley song, clean up their own backyard.

“No one wants to tell the Speaker that she’s moving too fast, and they damn sure don’t want to tell the president,” House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (N.Y.) — a Democrat, and a prominent one at that — has said.

Rangel is not alone. The office of House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has identified at least 42 House Democrats who have expressed either concern over or outright opposition to Obama’s healthcare bill.

That’s a significant number, a potential deal-breaker. And while there has been talk about the Blue Dog Democrats who oppose the bill, Democrats such as Ron Kind, Nita Lowey and Adam Schiff are definitely not Blue Dogs.

As more and more Democrats express skepticism over the legislation, it’s an important reminder for President Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), one proven by the highly unusual step of having the Democratic National Committee targeting fellow Democrats: It’s hard herding cats, even more so when the cats are herding themselves.

And should the legislation fail, and Democrats want to point fingers over who caused that failure and potentially gave the Obama administration a death blow, here’s the list of the 42 Democratic House members they can start with:

Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.)
Rep. Michael Arcuri (D-N.Y.)
Rep. John Boccieri (D-Ohio)
Rep. Dan Boren (D-Okla.)
Rep. Allen Boyd (D-Fla.)
Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa)
Rep. Bobby Bright (D-Ala.)
Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.)
Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.)
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.)
Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.)
Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.)
Rep. John Hall (D-N.Y.)
Rep. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.)
Rep. Baron Hill (D-Ind.)
Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Ohio)
Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.)
Rep. David Loebsack (D-Iowa)
Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.)
Rep. Betsy Markey (D-Colo.)
Rep. Jim Marshall (D-Ga.)
Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.)
Rep. Jim Matheson (D-Utah)
Rep. Mike McMahon (D-N.Y.)
Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.)
Rep. Mike Michaud (D-Maine)
Rep. Scott Murphy (D-N.Y.)
Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.)
Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.)
Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.)
Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.)
Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio)
Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.)
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.)
Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.)
Rep. Zack Space (D-Ohio)
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.)
Rep. John Tanner (D-Tenn.)
Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.)
Rep. Harry Teague (D-N.M.)
Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.)
Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.)