Ramesh responds, saying that his point about the stem cell issue's lack of political power stands. If the issue really were so powerful,
Pro-funding Republicans would have replaced anti-funding Republicans inopen seats; ditto for Democrats; all else being equal, pro-fundingRepublicans would have done better in the elections than anti-fundingRepublicans; a lot of professional politicians, surveying the wreckage,would have abandoned the anti-funding position; these factors wouldhave combined so that the issue did better than the party. It didn'thappen.
I don't think anyone ever said that a no vote would be trouble if you're in a safely conservative district. (Given the realities of gerrymandering, lots of districts are like this.) It's a hard issue for Republicans in the relatively small group of swing districts that decide control of the House.
