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Aug 20, 2010
by Don Azarias
Reeling under tremendous pressure from the electorate, President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party are trying to make sense of the impending political disaster that awaits them come midterm elections this fall. It’s a worrisome scenario for them that the speakership of the House being held by Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California) could be vulnerable and could change hands. And to further magnify the Democratic Party’s political problems, the control of the Senate is tilting towards Republicans’ favor.
President Obama and his Democratic allies have tried to downplay in public what its pollsters have been saying in private: that Obama’s alienation of independents and white voters, along with the enthusiasm gap between the right and the left, means that Republicans are now in a better position to pick up a large number of House and Senate seats. Consequently, Republicans stand a better chance of regaining control of Congress.There are indications that Democrats have already written off the prospects of retaining control of both legislative chambers after the midterm elections. They are now setting their sight to stage a political comeback on the 2012 presidential election instead. Obama’s reelection bid will now be the Party’s top priority.
Ironic as it may seem, an unfortunate incident sparked by a Democrat could have caused some damage to the Party’s fragile political chances come November. Seemingly afflicted by the Joe Biden syndrome, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs made a disastrous appearance on NBC’s Meet The Press on July 11. During his interview with host, David Gregory, he unwittingly put his foot in his mouth when he acknowledged that Republicans were in a position to win back control of the House. Immediately after that act of stupidity committed by a senior White House official, all hell broke loose and Speaker Pelosi and the congressional Democrats were up in arms asking for Gibbs’ head.
Gibbs’ gaffe forced Pelosi & Co. to recognize that the first part of their plan is failing. Public and private polling suggests that anxiety over the lack of jobs and anger over the big-spending ways of the Administration will solidify the public’s perceptions of the irresponsible way Obama and Democrats have handled the stimulus spending,health care reform and the financial regulation legislation. Congressional Democrats were aware of this hard reality before Gibbs opened his mouth, but having him say it out loud only exacerbated Democrats’ fear. Democrats are now worried that Gibbs’ admission will impact the flow of donations from individual and corporate financiers and lobbyists, who tend to make financial contributions to the party more likely to win the majority.
Obama’s and the Democratic Party’s political strategies will, more likely, focus on softening the anti-Washington, anti-incumbent, anti- Obama sentiment that are wreaking havoc on Democratic candidates for nationwide and statewide offices. They will make it a point of reminding voters that they could get things done for the middle class,
like passing the health care reform legislation and the positive impact of the massive economic stimulus bill that they passed. They will,surely, brag about Democrats’ sponsorship of the Wall Street reform and a campaign-funding law to counteract January’s controversial Supreme Court decision. There’s no guarantee, however, that voters will view these programs in a more favorable light, most especially, the health care reform law.
For now, Obama and the Democratic party are green with envy with the huge fundraising hauls by GOP Senate candidates for the second quarter of the year. They will, no doubt, attribute that to Gibbs’ statement, just for the sake of blaming someone for the reversal of fortune. Republicans, meanwhile, are now having a field day. They could barely contain their glee at seeing their message, “We can take the House back, really we can,” being promoted by a White House cabinet secretary. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said that Gibbs had thrown House Democrats “under the bus,” while National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (RTexas) played a tape of Gibbs’ comments at a gathering of House Republicans to amuse and energize fellow Republicans and jump-start a fundraising push toward the November elections.
Even if the midterms end the Democrats’ one-party rule, the President may well believe that his accomplishments during his first two years in office were worth it. But it’s unlikely that those incumbent Congressional Democrats who lose their jobs would share that assessment. For their sake, I’m hoping that Obama and Democrats will ask Vice President Joe Biden and Speaker Nancy Pelosi to refrain from speaking more often in public, at least, until after the midterm elections.
As most American voters know, they have the tendency to put their foot in their mouth to the detriment of their own Party. If I would be granted the privilege by Obama and his fellow Democrats to give them the best advice for improving their odds come the midterm elections, that’s exactly what I would give them. And not only that; I would also ask for Biden’s and Pelosi’s heads.