Being a Republican from a Democratic stronghold in the South, Cao is well-versed and thorough when it comes to considering legislation and how it affects his constituents.

After looking at his previous voting record, I would have to say that his statement, "I have always said that I would put aside partisan wrangling to do the business of the people. My vote tonight was based on my priority of doing what is best for my constituents, " is very accurate.

It is important to look at Cao's 2008 campaign contributions. Cao raised considerably less money than incumbent Bill Jefferson (less than half), and still managed to defeat him. Although he still received the routine funding from Republican PAC's, as did most other Republican candidates, the majority of his campaign funding came from businesses and corporations in Louisiana. (What's even cooler than that though, is the fact that he still has close to $3,000 in his campaign fund! He didn't need to spend it all.)



While on issues such as abortion, Cao tends to be loyal to his own personal views (he voted against the federally-funded abortion aspect of the bill, but also drafted legislation in support of promoting and educating the public about adoption), his record shows that he is one Republican who is able to put aside his own views and consider what is in the best interest of his constituents.

Personally, I think it was an amazing move on his part to call the White House at the last minute and negotiate the terms of the bill. (Who does that?)

When it comes to spending, Cao has been a supporter of a lot of economic relief programs (even though he voted against the original recovery plan earlier this year and the cap and trade program, he has voted for a number of other tax relief and assistance programs since then, particularly those that will help the people of LA directly), emergency appropriations for unemployment extensions (maybe that's where that Bobby Jindal influence comes in), Cash for Clunkers, and appropriating funding to expand the Hate Crimes Bill.

I find it ironic that Eric Cantor has considered him to be his right-hand man and even called him the "future of the GOP," whena lot of times Cao's vote is in opposition to Cantor's, but I like his no BS approach. He reads every piece of legislation thoroughly, and carefully considers each one. Even though he has only been in office for a short period of time, he has drafted nine pieces of legislation on his own and co-sponsored over 100 other projects.

His voting record shows he has an outstanding attendance record when compared to other members of Congress--never absent, never tardy, and doesn't use political funds for his own personal travel.

While I still don't think one Republican vote compared to the vote of 219 democrats makes it bipartisan legislation, it is clear that the opposition was bipartisan. In the end though, I don't think it matters much. The media can call it what they want to, but the reality is most people who follow politics are smart enough to dig into things for themselves and don't trust the media much anymore anyway.
Source(s):
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/elections.php?cycle=2010&cid=N00...
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.php?cycle=2010&cid=N0003...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/08/joseph-cao-health-cares-l_n_349779...
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/bills.php?cycle=2010&cid=N000303...
http://www.votesmart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=93967

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