Will GOP candidates adopt 'every-man-for-himself' strategies?
 Despite imploring House Republicans to get their "dead asses" in line, Minority Leader John Boehner was unable to hold his party together on a Medicare-related vote this week.
The disarray is raising questions whether GOP lawmakers "will adopt an every-man-for-himself strategy" approaching tough election races, reports Roll Call.
After losing close to 30 seats in 2006, Republicans are fearing another Democratic wave this coming November. The GOP already has lost three previously safe seats in elections so far this year, and Democratic leaders in the House are planning to stack the deck with tough votes between now and November to provide more election year fodder.
Just 59 Republicans held ranks on Tuesday's vote, and several GOP lawmakers criticized their leadership's perofmance to the Capitol Hill newspaper's Lauren W. Whittington and Steven T. Dennis.
While leaders tried to convince Members that they would get another chance to vote on a better bill, uncertainty over whether that would actually happen drove many Republicans to vote yes.
“What they should have done was count their votes a little better,” Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) said. “Members didn’t want to vote against it if it was going to pass.”
Another Republican Member called the decision to try to whip votes against the doc fix an “embarrassment on the minority leadership,” adding that Boehner and Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) misread where the Conference was on the issue.
This Member also expressed the sense that the bill brought to the floor Tuesday was the best bill Members would have an opportunity to vote on — a sentiment that was confirmed by another GOP Member but counter to what leadership was saying.
At a recent GOP conference meeting, Boehner also reportedly joked that he would deny one congressman a desired committee spot if he didn't stay in line.
Shaky electoral prospects already have led to whispers that some Republicans would like to see Boehner ousted from his leadership spot in the party. The latest setback could see those murmurs grow louder.
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