By Andrea Tantaros
Republican Political Commentator

1. Republicans, and some Democrats, were tired of carrying George Bush’s water. In the last eight years, George Bush has asked Congress for a lot of money. He’s asked them to fund the war. He’s asked them to pass the Medicare Prescription Drug Bill, in the middle of the night no less, when nobody was watching. They did. When he asked for Social Security reform many House Republicans put their foot down. They did that again today.

The Bush Administration did a terrible job selling this bill and members of the House were not willing to be the ones on the front lines doing his work yet again, no matter how crucial the impact of not passing it.

2. The importance of protecting their congressional tails. Constituents across the country are furious. They don’t care who started this mess, they just don’t want to have to pay for it.

This close to an election many members weren’t willing to put their political careers at risk to appease the Administration and Paulson, no matter how much arm twisting, and how many parks and statues they were promised for their districts.

3. At last, House Republicans did not go against their DNA. They bucked massive government intervention and the nationalization of our financial markets. Spending like drunken sailors over last few years, many put their foot down this time around as if to say no more. Voting for a 700 billion dollar bailout bill was inherently against the genetic code of many Republicans. Unlike the Medicare Bill, this time they knew America was watching.