Jim Marshall is one of many facing voting anger over his stance on the bailout, writes Krissah Williams Thompsonin Washington
US HOUSE of Representatives member Jim Marshall had planned to be in his rural southwest Georgia district to raise money and meet voters.
Instead, the Democrat was in his Capitol Hill office with bags under his eyes, preparing for a 30-second television spot that would explain to his constituents, including almost 1,000 angry people who had called and written to his office in the past four days, why he voted for the bailout plan.
It was an unexpected and unwelcome twist in the final weeks of an already difficult re-election race for Marshall, who is one of the most vulnerable Democrats in Congress. Marshall is a conservative Democrat in a Republican-leaning district. His opponent, Republican Rick Goddard, has raised more than $770,000 (€550,000).
Local newspapers have called Marshall the congressman "most exposed" by his vote, and he is left with less than five weeks to convince his constituents that he made the right move. What the third-term congressman wants to say to them is: "You didn't send me up here to do the easy stuff."
"I'm just furious about this," Marshall said, quickly downing a bowl of tomato soup in his office on Tuesday. "Nobody here wants to bail out Wall Street. That's not what this is."
Marshall said he became persuaded that the financial crisis was dire after talking to midsize bank officials in his district, watching the financial news, and reading reports from experts.
He did not like everything in the compromise Bill but was compelled to vote for it because he believes the economy is at a "frightening tipping point".
He also knows his vote could be a political tipping point in his race.
The vote "could hurt him", said Emory University political scientist Merle Black.
"It depends on how it plays out and whether voters re-evaluate his vote. If public opinion changes, he might look like someone who took a big political risk and won."
One of Marshall's constituents, Mary Alice Carter (57), is still sceptical about the Bill, but she said that if there were greater protections for taxpayers in a new version, she might change her mind.
Carter voted for Marshall two years ago but is undecided this year, and is at the heart of the constituency he must win over.
In a meeting with Georgia Democrats on Sunday, Marshall said: "I'm willing to give up my seat over this," - but not without a fight, he added on Tuesday.
"This is no time for wimps," he said. "It's a time to get out there and do the right thing. Take your political lumps and do what you can to help the country." - (Los Angeles Times-Washington Post service)