Musgrave on CNN: Re-election chances 'totally out of my mind' in opposing bailout

U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Fort Morgan) called the revised bailout package passed by the House "absolutely ridiculous" and said she didn't think about her re-election chances in choosing to oppose the bill during an appearance on CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight" on Friday evening.

"I kept my re-elect totally out of my mind when I took the stand on this bill. I was out there with a 'no' before I got lobbied by anybody -- any calls coming into my office --because the plan was fatally flawed," Musgrave said. "And to think that (Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson) would come to the Hill just in a panic (saying), ‘You gotta do something, you gotta do something now' to me was absolutely ridiculous."

Told by Dobbs that Wall Street corporations "are going to be coming at you with everything that they've got" by donating money to 527 groups, Musgrave said she didn't "think that my constituents all realize that 527s whack the daylights out of me. They don't even have to reveal their donors. People don't realize, you know, how they can go after you that way."

The revised bailout package passed the House 263-171 on Friday.

Musgrave also voted against an earlier economic bailout package on Monday, along with U.S. Reps. Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado Springs), John Salazar (D-Manassa) and Mark Udall (D-Eldorado Springs).

Musgrave appeared on "Lou Dobbs Tonight" with U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.). Dobbs praised the pair for having "absolute courage to stand up against what was a tidal wave of lobbying."