The Fix: The most important number in politics today
The most important number in politics today
18 That's the number of Democratic House members who hold seats won by Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) in 2008 and voted in favor of their party's health care proposal over the weekend. National Republicans moved quickly in the wake of that vote to make poster boys (and girls) of these Members, insisting that this one vote could be their undoing at the ballot box next fall -- ala then Pennsylvania Rep. Marjorie Margolies- Mezvinsky and her vote for the Clinton budget in 1993. Yes and no. For maybe a half dozen of the "yes" votes, there is clearly serious electoral peril associated with their decision over the weekend. These members are either new to Congress or haven't had a serious race in quite a while AND have drawn quality Republican opponents. Among this group are Reps. Tom Perriello (Va.), Vic Snyder (Ark.), and Zack Space (Ohio). The majority of



