David Corn points out that when it comes to making gains in the upcoming midterm elections, the GOP may be their own worst enemy. After all, the party is a mess, Michael Steele is a joke, they have no positive agenda, and scandals keep piling up. Not only that, but the Tea Partiers are going to continue to cause havoc and bring unwanted publicity to the conservative movement. But, Democrats cannot rely on a self-inflicted implosion. They need to diagnose the mood of the country accurately, and make smart moves to win the national debate.
It seems pretty obvious that there is a widespread perception out there that the government is doing too much and is too far in debt. And that perception is the biggest problem that the Democrats face. If the government takes more action to stimulate job creation, it will cost money and feed both negative narratives. Passing more sweeping legislation on immigration or climate will feed into the perception that the government has its tentacles everywhere. The more the people want the government to slow down, the more they’ll be impervious to the message that a Republican congress will just create gridlock and nothing will get done. But that’s the message the Democrats want to make.
Remember when Gingrich shut down the government and impeached a popular president for lying about his infidelity? Well, that was back when the Republican Party was somewhat reasonable. Look at them now [insert shot of foaming-mad tea party ralliers]. Do you think Obama will be more successful in turning the economy around with these loons nipping at his heels?
One way to combat this national mood is to time some very popular legislation for the fall that is crafted in such a way that it will guarantee a Republican filibuster. What we want is for the public to have the perception that the Republicans are standing in the way of needed reforms and that the last thing we need is to give them even more power to block legislation. To do this, the Democrats need a sacrificial lamb…something they don’t mind seeing go down to a filibuster. That’s the problem with using the most obvious bill…the financial services bill. Do we really want to fail to address the too-big-to-fail problem? This is especially hard to contemplate because, crafted more to the GOP’s liking, the financial sector reforms could become a major bipartisan victory of the type Obama has been seeking since he came into office. On the other hand, a bill that is to the GOP’s liking is not going to truly fix the problem. Decisions, decisions…
I hope smarter people than me are working on the legislative calendar.
