Washington ? Eight days after Barack Obama took office as a “change” president, House Republicans have made a huge political gamble that could set the tone for the next election cycle.

In unanimously opposing the massive spending bill that Obama says is crucial to reviving the economy, they signaled they are not cowed by his November win or his calls for a new era of bipartisanship. Obama’s popularity will slacken, they say, and even if it doesn’t voters will reward a party that makes principled stands for restrained spending and bigger tax cuts.

Democratic officials think Republicans are misreading Americans’ hunger for action. And if they are right, the GOP could face a third round of election setbacks next year.

Eyebrows were raised on both sides by Wednesday night’s 244-188 House vote, in which not a single Republican supported the stimulus package.

Passage was never in doubt, even when 11 Democrats joined the Republicans in voting nay. And the Democratic-controlled Congress is almost certain to enact some version of the measure soon, after senators make changes and work out the differences with the House.

Many congressional insiders, however, thought a dozen or more GOP House members would back the bill this week, especially after Obama met separately Tuesday with House and Senate Republicans in a rare presidential visit to the Capitol’s two wings. The House vote makes it easier for Democrats to portray the entire Republican Party as a do-nothing, head-in-the-sand group, though GOP officials call that unfair.

“I think the Republicans have painted themselves into a box,” said David DiMartino, a former Senate Democratic staffer now in public relations. “If the stimulus package works, they were wrong. For them to be right, the economy has to tank. They seem to be rooting for a bad economy.”