A lot of Democrats are genuinely spooked about the midterm elections, but it doesn’t appear that the DNC is sweating them. They think they can protect vulnerable Democrats by keeping the issues local, focusing on jobs, and tapping into Obama’s 13 million-strong voter contact list. Part of their strategy involves managing expectations, which is why no matter where you look, the Democrats are predicting their own doom. Essentially, they’re playing opossum.
The Democrats, meanwhile, have made it their duty to match the GOP’s grandiosity with an equal measure of glumness. Reached separately this week in Washington, officials from the Democratic National Committee, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee repeated the same robotic talking points. Historically, the president almost always loses seats in the first midterm elections after he enters office, they said. Add in the sagging economy and the anti-incumbent sentiment out there, and it’s going to be an extremely tough year for Democrats.
However, that messaging strategy created a bit of a problem. The corporate world started to believe it.
Democrats are grumbling at donors they say have tried to hedge their bets on a possible Republican takeover of the House.
With GOP hopes high heading into the midterm campaign season, House Democrats have taken note of business groups that made late contributions to GOP-favored candidates in recent elections, only to see them go down to defeat.
Democrats say some donors bought into the hype, and with the Republican establishment in Washington now reeling from several high-profile setbacks, the majority party is hoping a sense of “donor remorse” will send the dollars flowing back its way.
“They basically made a bad bet,” said one Democratic leadership aide.
This is the dirty secret with the Democratic Party. They may say that the Republican Party is the party of corporate interests (and there are correct) but they want that money, too. They want it so they don’t have to make as many phone calls begging for cash. They want it so their opponents won’t have it. But they have to do things to get it. How does this next bit make you feel?
A member of the Financial Services Committee with close ties to business, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), said donors had told him the [Tim] Burns [PA-12 special election] loss was a wake-up call.
“People are hedging the other way after the Pennsylvania election,” he told The Hill.
Donors no longer see GOP control of the House as a foregone conclusion, Meeks said.
Meeks recalled that these donors had told him, “ ‘Look, I had given you up for dead. I can’t do that anymore.’ ”
This is all about figuring which side of the bread to butter. While the corporate world prefers the Republican Party’s instinctual low-taxes, anti-regulatory ideology, they’re all about outcomes. And the Republicans aren’t worth much if they can’t take over any committee chairs. Giving to Democrats, especially on the relevant committees, is a defensive move, not an offensive one.
Now, I am not going to pretend that it twasn’t ever thus. Congress is actually less corrupt than it used to be, and its members are models of integrity compared to most state legislatures. But every once in a while events conspire to create a window for progressive change where do-gooder good government types can rein in the influence of Big Money on the political process. The Wall Street meltdown and the Gulf oil leak are all the evidence we need to know the true costs of putting corporate interests over the interests of our ordinary citizens. And, really, that’s a message that Democrats should be sending in addition to a focus on local issues and jobs.
