At the CPAC conference yesterday there was a palpable sense that maybe things are starting to go Republicans' way. In May of last year Time Magazine had a cover story about the Republican Party as an "endangered species;" just 9 months later, their fortunes have suddenly turned a complete 180 as an anti-incumbent wave has hit middle America and Democrats' inability to get anything passed has seen their poll numbers drop considerably.
Minority Leader John Boehner spent a good amount of time during his speech explaining how a "Speaker Boehner" would run the house, bold prognostications that would've been unheard of even a few months ago. A pretty nerdy breakdown of competitive House races according to Congressional Quarterly was just released and can be found HERE. Prospects don't look good for Democrats and the CW has been changing in a real way that the Democrats' 4 year hold on congress is in significant danger. With just 9 months to go before the election, they will be potentially vulnerable in a whopping 95 districts, over a third of their whole caucus, with many political strategists saying the chances are good that they could lose close to half of them.
An article today in Politico talks about President Obama's fundraising trip for Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid in Las Vegas today, and how much their fortunes are tied together. They need eachother for their political survival, and this bosom-buddies story just goes to show how desperate things have really gotten for the Democratic Party.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Are Democrats Losing Ground on National Security?
The last few weeks have been slow on political news, first with Washington DC shut down due to snowstorms on the east coast and now with intense media focus on the Vancouver Olympic Games. President Obama is using today to unveil his unsexy plan for a bipartisan committee focused on reducing the deficit while at the same time seeming to allow America’s wave of recent progress in capturing Taliban leaders go relatively unnoticed.
Greg Sergeant over at The Plum Line argued today that downplaying the Obama Administration’s successes in fighting the “war on terror” could prove to be a major mistake come mid-term election time. Republicans are already pushing talking points to attack Democrats on national security issues, which plays nicely into the narrative that former Vice President Dick Cheney has more or less been pushing since Obama’s inauguration.
Vice President Joe Biden in particular has been the Democrats’ first line of defense in responding to Cheney’s criticisms, although it’s possible that the White House is losing ground on the narrative concerning national security as they continue to focus on tackling the economy, health care, and the deficit. If Democrats continue to downplay their successes with national security, they are likely to lose out come election time.
Greg Sergeant over at The Plum Line argued today that downplaying the Obama Administration’s successes in fighting the “war on terror” could prove to be a major mistake come mid-term election time. Republicans are already pushing talking points to attack Democrats on national security issues, which plays nicely into the narrative that former Vice President Dick Cheney has more or less been pushing since Obama’s inauguration.
Vice President Joe Biden in particular has been the Democrats’ first line of defense in responding to Cheney’s criticisms, although it’s possible that the White House is losing ground on the narrative concerning national security as they continue to focus on tackling the economy, health care, and the deficit. If Democrats continue to downplay their successes with national security, they are likely to lose out come election time.
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