Annunciation | NOLA

I live in the congressional district that was represented by William "Dollar Bill" Jefferson - the congressman the FBI found $90K cash in his freezer. He got re-elected once since then, but this past fall he was finally voted out. While my district, and most of New Orleans, is full of Democrats, we elected Cao who is a Republican. Today's T-P has an article "Cao may be one of few to break Republican ranks on stimulus" (link)

Though hailed a party hero by Republican leaders in Congress after his upset defeat of Democratic incumbent William Jefferson, Cao would be a party renegade on the biggest vote since he arrived in Washington.

I voted for Cao as well as I voted against Jefferson and had Cao been up against someone other than Jefferson he might not have won. It's refreshing to hear a politician say:

"I'm voting along what my conscience dictates and the needs of the 2nd Congressional District dictate, even if I were to be the only member of the GOP to vote for the stimulus package, " he said.

It's good to see he also has a sense of humor:

Scalise, the assistant Republican whip, laughed when asked whether it was his responsibility to keep Cao in line, adding that a few Republican defections are to be expected.

Joked Cao, "Steve Scalise doesn't know kung fu. I know kung fu. He can't whip me."

But can someone explain to me what the heck "the hard-core, rock-ribbed Republican districts" means?

UPDATE
Cao voted no. It passed anyway but time will tell how it plays out. I like Adrastos' comment "Still, it would have been nice if Mr. Cao had tried but we got used to having an empty suit in the House during Dollar Bill's decline..." which is all too true. And I also like he "Kung Fu Fighting" video clip. "Those cats were fast as lightning." Sweet.