GOP Rep. Anh Cao voted for Obamacare; now he's paying the price as contributions fall by 40 %

The lone Republican lawmaker to support Democratic health care legislation has seen his fundraising drop by nearly 40 percent since his vote, and he is quickly burning through a dwindling bank account after resorting to a costly national fundraising operation.

Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao, the unlikely congressman from New Orleans, is facing the perils of bipartisanship unlike any other lawmaker in Washington — trying to please a heavily Democratic constituency while relying on core conservatives for money to fuel his campaign.

Although Republican leaders have continued supporting Cao with money from their campaign committees despite his health care position, the conservative donors he's courting around the country may not be so forgiving.

A Vietnamese-American, Cao (pronounced gow) won his seat in 2008 even as President Barack Obama took 75 percent of the vote in the district, which is 60 percent black. Like Louisiana's Indian-American governor, Bobby Jindal, Cao was hailed as a next-generation Republican who could put a more diverse face on the party's predominantly white image.

But Cao's victory was unique. It came only after his Democratic opponent and predecessor, Rep. William Jefferson, was found with $90,000 in his freezer and indicted on bribery charges. Republicans acknowledge that Cao will have a tough time holding the seat.