Well, Congress left Washington without providing a Continuing Resolution to keep the government operating past the end of the month or providing disaster relief for the victims of the wildfires in Texas or the flooding from Hurricane Irene. FEMA will run out of money on Monday or Tuesday. And, even before this happened, the people were thoroughly fed-up with Washington. I can’t wait to see how the public reacts to the latest display of dysfunction.
In a memo circulated widely on Capitol Hill, GOP pollster Bill McInturff warned that the debt-limit debate had “shattered confidence in our political system and everyone involved.” Voters lost faith in the ability of both President Obama and congressional Republicans to “make the right decisions about the economy,” the memo said. But congressional Republicans had taken the bigger hit, it added, with 81 percent of those surveyed saying they had little or no confidence in the judgment of the GOP.
Veteran political analyst Charlie Cook, editor and publisher of the Cook Political Report, said if lawmakers continue down this path, the 2012 election could bring “the biggest, broadest anti-incumbent year of post-war history,” with voters indiscriminately tossing out lawmakers in both parties, pulling the lever “against anybody’s name they recognize.”
“The debt ceiling debacle is almost a horrible metaphor: It’s as if a bomb went off at 800 Pennsylvania Avenue and sent shrapnel flying in every direction,” Cook said. “I don’t know what these guys think they’re doing, but it looks like they’re committing political suicide.”
This is why I am getting frustrated with the lack of news from DSCC chairwomen Patty Murray on candidate recruitment for our Senate races. Who is running in Arizona? Can’t she get former Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal to run against John Barrasso? I ‘d like to see Jim Matheson run against Orrin Hatch. Who are our candidates in Tennessee and Mississippi? I know none of these races seem winnable, but we’re entering uncharted territory. We need challengers to all incumbent senators, especially because a lot of the people we think are safe may not be safe. Give people an alternative, and it’s not unlikely that they’ll take it.
We should just assume that anyone who is an incumbent is at a disadvantage. But you can’t beat anybody with nobody.
