While Republicans in Congress seem highly cohesive, there are questions whether this cohesion includes Republicans on the state and local level. Republican governors and mayors were among the supporters of the original stimulus bill -- the one that included aid to state and local governments.
The two major parties work on many levels. Coordination among each level can be difficult since their needs' goals and objectives can vary.
There are also questions about the future effectiveness of the mechanisms the current party leadership used to force a party line vote. Apparently some Republicans were willing to vote for the bill. If party leaders continue to pull members away from the preferences of their constituents they may make the representative vulnerable to defeat. But only of the stimulus either does not work, or can be argued to have not worked.
Republicans run a tight ship. I would not be surprised if they are able to stick together. That doesn't guarantee electoral success however. If the stimulus bill seems to work, and Democrats paint the opposition as playing pure politics, they could win big in 2010.
