What's the quickest way to go from United States Senator to "whatever happened to..."? Completely ignore the calls, letters and poll results from your constituents and vote for Obamacare anyway. That's the lesson Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Arkansas) is learning the hard way as her job approval rating and poll numbers are plummeting since she cast the all-important 60th vote for President Obama's health care reform legislation.

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Senator Lincoln represents a state in which 56 percent of voters said they "strongly opposed" the Senate bill for which she voted and with that vote she instantly dropped the moderate mask she'd worn to gain power in such a red state. A poll due out tomorrow promises the senator's numbers against Republican challenger John Boozman won't be pretty. According to Tom Jensen of left-leaning Public Policy Polling, "Because of Lincoln's increasingly precarious position we tested a bunch of Democratic alternatives to her as well. They do better, but for the most part not by much. Lincoln certainly has a lot of personal blame for the situation she finds herself in, but it would be tough for any Democrat to win a Senate race in Arkansas this year." (source)

Showing the same kind of political desperation as many of her fellow Democrats, Senator Lincoln is now trying to make herself seem less like a Democrat. She doesn't seem to be impressing any Indpendent or Republican voters but she is angering a group called the League of Conservation Voters which claims "Sen. Lincoln is walking away from her previous support for climate legislation." (source)

Ms. Lincoln has also recently become one of only two Democrats to join the fight to deny funding for civilian trials for terrorists. (source)

Chances are small gestures like these will not erase the memory of Senator Lincoln's very public mistake on Obamacare and considering President Obama lost the state to John McCain by 20 points in 2008, it's a pretty safe bet that Arkansas will be part of the Republican Revolution of 2010.

UPDATE: The new numbers have been released by Public Policy Polling. Senator Lincoln is now trailing Republican John Boozman by 23 points (56% to 33%) and her approval rating has dropped to 27%. (source)