How's this for hypocrisy, on one hand the Democrats bash the GOP by saying they don't have any good policies, on the other hand the Democratic party leadership is telling congressional candidates to hush it up about the bills they've passed when they are on the campaign trail. If they are so embarrassed about the bills they shoved through congress (and in many cases they should be), why did they pass them?
In an effort coordinated with the White House, congressional leaders are urging Democrats to focus less on bragging about what they have done — a landmark healthcare law, a sweeping overhaul of Wall Street regulation and other far-reaching policy changes — and more on efforts to fix the economy and on the perils of Republican control of Congress.
One year after many town hall meetings were upended by raucous anti-government protesters, congressional Democrats are trying to ensure that this summer's debate sheds a more flattering light on their party as they navigate a bruising midterm election campaign.
In other words, Congressional Democrats knew they were going against the will of the people when they passed bills like Obamacare, but now they don't have the cojones to defend their decision. Now that they have to face their constituents they are sticking their heads in the sand.
To bulk up their record on job creation, Democratic leaders have gone to great lengths — even calling House members back from recess for a special session Tuesday — to pass a $26-billion bill to avert public employee layoffs.
And in an effort to turn attention to their opponents, Democrats from Obama on down have taken to warning that giving Republicans control of Congress would be akin to reelecting George W. Bush.
"The question for 2010 is: Whose side are you on?" Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said to reporters Thursday. He spoke after a closed meeting with Democratic senators, where palm cards itemizing contrasts between the parties were distributed for lawmakers to carry around during the recess.
"Democrats moving us forward, while Republicans take us back," the card says.
Obama has been reading from the same playbook (called
act like a kindergartner and whine "He did it."), comparing Republicans to bad drivers who want to retrieve keys to a car they had driven into a ditch.
"When you get in your car, when you go forward, what do you do? You put it in 'D,' " Obama said last week at a Democratic National Committee event in Atlanta. "When you want to go back, what do you? You put it in 'R.' "
Of course it is all a diversion to keep the public's attention away from the past two years of failed progressive policies.
Democratic strategists privately acknowledge that their party's legislative record, while far-reaching and popular with party regulars, has limited political benefit in swing districts and in a stubbornly sluggish economy.
"Our candidates' job is not to sell the accomplishments of the past but to send a message that strikes a chord," said a senior Democratic advisor who did not want to be identified while discussing strategy. "I am not one who thinks our candidates should go out and sell healthcare reform. They have to stay focused on jobs, the economy and shaking up Washington."
Now I understand that President Obama is "good at politickin" but it is clear that "Blame Bush" is a last resort act of desperation being implemented because the Democrats know their policies were not only unpopular, but just flat out didn't work to help the economy.
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