May 24, 2007 01:06 AM UTC

The New Marilyn Musgrave

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• by: Colorado Pols

We talked back in December about rumors that Republican Rep. Marilyn Musgrave was in hot water with the RNCC. Annoyed that they had to spend millions to defend what should have been a safe seat for the second cycle in a row (say that three times fast), Republican bigwigs reportedly told Musgrave that she needed to shape up, or she would be shipped out in a primary.

Well, she’s certainly shaping up.

Musgrave called for the ouster of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales yesterday, but given that it came several weeks after every other elected official on both sides of the aisle had already spoken out, the move took about as much courage as beating up a sixth-grader.

Still, the new Musgrave has been out meeting her constituents more than ever before, and she’s trying a new tact of being “Bipartisan Musgrave.” As Daily Kos notes,  her congressional website features a “Bi-Partisan Action of the Week” section, and today The Hill talked up her bipartisanness in an editorial:

Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.) last week said that she “has succeeded in keeping veteran healthcare costs down by working with Democrats to stand up to President Bush.”

The May 18 release added that the third-term congresswoman bucked Bush by preventing his proposed increases for soldiers and veterans from becoming a reality.

There are plenty of GOP centrists who have been critical of Bush in recent months. But Musgrave is a social and fiscal conservative. And unlike other Republicans on the Hill, she defied Bush in his first term, when he enjoyed higher poll numbers.

Despite intense lobbying from the White House and then-House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), Musgrave voted no on the 2003 Medicare prescription drug bill.

She has been known to rub members of her own party the wrong way. A few months after arriving in Congress in 2003, Musgrave criticized then-House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Don Young’s (R-Alaska) penchant for earmarks in a letter to Hastert…

… This cycle, Musgrave is stressing her bipartisanship. She has let her constituents know that she is working with
Democrats on agricultural disaster funding and a rural water measure, among other matters.

The headlines of her press releases this month are titled “Musgrave’s Joint Work with Democrats Show Signs of Success,” “Musgrave Joins with Democrats to Ensure Colorado Farmers & Ranchers Aren’t Short Changed,” and “Bipartisanship Works Only when Democrats Don’t Shut Out Republicans.”

The DCCC believes the Musgrave seat is gettable, though it will devote significant resources in the 2008 cycle to protect its vulnerable freshmen.

Usually, members win tough races to get into Congress, and it gets easier in subsequent elections. But Musgrave has gone from 55 percent to 49 percent to 46 percent.

Until that trend changes significantly, Musgrave will be on the DCCC hit list. And while Democrats are working with Musgrave on various legislative initiatives this year, they will likely work less with her next year.

Musgrave will again face stiff competition for her seat in 2008, but if she can hold off challengers for a third straight cycle, she might finally be out of the woods. Big Democratic donors are only going to beat their heads against the wall so many times before they move on to other winnable seats, and they might have moved on already if Musgrave had changed her image two years ago.