Democrats Hit Rough Patch

Politico: GOP Hopes Rise After A Series Of Stumbles For Dems Following Election Day's Big Wins

(The Politico)  This story was written by Alexander Burns.

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After three nearly uninterrupted years of favorable political news, Democrats have finally hit a rough patch.

Over a period of fewer than 10 days, Democrats have seen their nominee go down in defeat in the Georgia Senate runoff - eliminating the prospect of a filibuster-proof majority - lost two winnable House races in Louisiana and witnessed House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) sink deeper into ethics trouble.

Then there’s the still-unfolding Illinois Senate debacle, which exposed Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s tawdry attempts to auction off President-elect Barack Obama’s Senate seat and forced Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) to hold a press conference Wednesday denying any inappropriate discussions with the governor.

Democrats aren’t exactly disheartened by these developments - they’re still set to control the entire federal government in January - but the streak of bad news has tempered the party’s post-election euphoria. And the string of post-Election Day congressional wins has given the GOP some of its first good news in a long time.

“I think Republicans are approaching these wins with cautious enthusiasm,” Republican consultant Ron Bonjean said, referring to the GOP’s victories in Georgia and Louisiana, “that the party isn’t completely down and out, that the American people are willing to give them a chance.”

Democratic missteps alone won’t be enough to spur a GOP recovery, Republicans said, but they give the party some time to fortify its political position.

“It’s obviously better to win than lose, so these victories have been heartening, but we still have a lot of work to do,” said Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio). “Everyone knows this is a marathon, not a sprint.”

“[Americans] still want to hear want to hear what positive agenda they will bring to the table,” Bonjean agreed. “And we’ll have to take the next several months to put one together and communicate it more effectively.”

If Republicans are sounding a cautious note now, they were positively ecstatic over the weekend, when Republican Anh “Joseph” Cao’s victory over indicted New Orleans Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) spurred Boehner’s office to release a statement declaring: “The Future is Cao.”

“The Cao victory is a symbol of what can be achieved when we think big, present a positive alternative, and work aggressively to earn the trust of the American people,” Boehner said.

Republicans on the ground in the contested districts were, if possible, even more thrilled. Aaron Baer, the communications director for the Louisiana Republican Party, pointed out that Democratic victories in three 2008 special elections presaged their big wins in November.

“Now we’ve kind of seen our three as well, so hopefully ours is the beginning of a trend,” he said. “The model of what worked in Georgia and what worked in Louisiana, other states gotta look at that.” 

For now, Democrats seem relatively unruffled by their recent defeats in Georgia, where Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss defeated former state legislator Jim Martin by double digits, and Louisiana, where Republicans successfully knocked off Jefferson and defended the seat of retiring Rep. Jim McCrery.

Former Texas Rep. Martin Frost, who ran the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in the 1990s, dismissed those losses as isolated incidents.

“Two of these were Republican seats,” Frost said, referring to Chambliss and McCrery’s seats. “The Jefferson seat was just an unusual situation where you had this member who was under this enormous ethical cloud.”

According to Frost, those results show little more than that Republicans can win in the South “the one part of the country where the Republicans are still dominant.”

DCCC spokesman Doug Thornell was even more dismissive in swatting down the suggestion that Republicans have picked up steam.

“Republicans are bankrupt of ideas and lurching for anything to exploit,” Thornell said.

He pointed out that Republicans have had some bad news of their own lately: a slow tally of provisional ballots recently propelled Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy into retiring Rep. Deborah Pryce’s (R-Ohio) seat, and retiring Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.) was sentenced on Monday to five days in jail for drunk driving.

“The reality is that in the last few days they lost yet another House seat in a district they have held since 1966, had one of their members sentenced to jail time and barely held onto an overwhelming Republican district in the Deep South,” he said. “Clearly, the GOP propaganda machine is working overtime to spin this as a good week for them.”

But even if Democrats are shrugging off disappointing election returns, the Blagojevich scandal and Rangel’s persistent ethics issues threaten to be an ongoing distraction, at least in the near-term.

The allegations against Rangel, which involve multiple allegations of corruption and tax fraud, will be addressed by a House ethics committee report in January.

Blagojevich’s problems have a less specific timetable for resolution, and the governor has given no indication, so far, that he intends to resign his office.

“The Illinois thing has the potential for being a problem for Democrats, if we can’t contain it just to Blagojevich and Illinois,” Frost conceded, suggesting that a special election for Obama’s Senate seat could provide an opening for a Republican challenger, particularly if the Illinois legislature doesn’t provide for a runoff election and numerous Democrats file for the seat.

On Tuesday, when news leaked out of Blagojevich’s arrest, Republicans - including several of the candidates running for Republican National Committee chair - jumped on the scandal as an opportunity to link President-elect Obama to crooked Chicago politics.

“Rep. [Eric] Cantor and I both put out statements yesterday and called on Barack Obama to be a different kind of president,” RNC Chairman Mike Duncan told Politico Wednesday. “He lost a day yesterday. He did not perform very well.”

Obama initially avoided calling on Blagojevich to resign, before his press secretary made a statement Wednesday echoing other Illinois politicians’ demands that the embattled governor step down. All 50 Democratic senators signed a letter Wednesday calling on Blagojevich to resign.

If the Blagojevich affair has the potential to damage Obama’s image, it hasn’t registered just yet. The Gallup tracking poll that measures Obama’s favorability and public confidence ratings showed Wednesday that 71 percent of the public had a positive impression of the President-elect, compared with just 19 percent that had a negative impression.

Sixty-five percent of Americans said they had confidence in him. Just 24 percent disagreed.

[fzy1hc]

Well I want to be a Senator for Illinois or NY.

Gee who should I contact? Jackson Jr. , Ted Kennedy, Ms Kennedy or Gov. Rod Blagojevich?

I don''t have ant experience but I have the backing four people.

Now I know why we are in this economic situation.

Go democates

[ausus-2009]

dburfears,

Your use of capitalizations reminds me of Sgt Schultz in Hogan''s Heroes. I see NOTHING!

[dburfears]

You Obama haters have nothing - NOTHING to show Obama has done ANYTHING WRONG. Instead you imply, and suggest, and "imagine" whatever suits your twisted goals. You WANT it to be true, because you want a reason to bring Obama down. But you have nothing- no facts, no reality, no evidence, no tapes, no documents... NOTHING. You just want to throw SLIME.

It''s not Obama''s responsibility to DISPROVE YOUR EVERY FANTASY. Bring us some PROOF. Not your imaginings or your conspiracy theories. You are like children throwing dirt in the schoolyard while the adults roll their eyes.

The real FACT is that the REPUBLICAN U.S. Attorney said there is not indication of involvement by Obama or his staff in ANYTHING ILLEGAL.

The real FACT is that Blagojevich was furious because he KNEW that Obama or his people would NOT "PAY", and that all he would get is Obama''s "appreciation". Then he called Obama obscene names for not being corrupt and not paying.

The real FACT is that Obama thought Blagojevich was a "bad actor", minimized contact with him for YEARS, and NEVER included him in his CAMPAIGN.

The real FACT is that Obama supported an ETHICS BILL in Illinois this year to stop "pay to play" activities, IN OPPOSITION TO Blagojevich. Obama lobbied Illinois legislators and is credited with helping pass the anti-Blagojevich anti-corruption bill.

The real FACT is that the most significant connection between Obama and Blagojevich is that they are both from Illinois. So are 13 MILLION OTHER PEOPLE.

[likeitis5050]

Yeah, all Clinton did was leave the country a surplus - the first one since before Ray-Gun was elected.


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Posted by usclimey

none so blind...blah blah blah...you see exactly what the sheep let you see.

[ausus-2009]

It really is the chickens coming home to roost. The Democrats were dominated by the corrupt Tammany Hall machine for nearly 150 years. They have had had corrupt power brokers in various parts of the country through the years. We have had the Daleys in Illinois, Adam Clayton Powell and now Charlie Rangel in New York (and even earlier Jimmy Walker), the Longs in Louisiana and now Mr Jefferson, and out on the West Coast Big Daddy Unruh in California. This is not even counting the Clinton scandals.

[usclimey]

You could line up Republicans 4 deep and they will never come close to the Bill Clinton dam break...please...tell yourself all you want that your guys are better and it just makes you look more and more pathetic and dumb. It''''s politicians, baby...stop trying to pick a winning side.

Posted by likeitis5050

Yeah, all Clinton did was leave the country a surplus - the first one since before Ray-Gun was elected.

[usclimey]

...and do you think the "favorable political news" was orchestrated by the Liberal Media in order to usher in a Democrat president?

Posted by CBSisPravda1

Fvck you - I told you months ago the MSM only goes after the guy in power. Now Obama''s there (your boy seems to have abdicated his position and gone house-hunting) he''ll get it. Whoever''s in power the MSMwill slag - no bias at all.

[chitonu247]

HEY IS BLOGO G.W. BUSH STEP BOTHER

[chitonu247]

ARE YOU SURE BLOGO ISN''T A REPUBLICAN?

HA HA HA

TOO BAD THEY CAN''T GET THE CA. GOV. LIKE THIS :(

[citizenusa-2009]

that goes too, for our Brave Troops serving in Afghanistan. Good job Shrub. Good job.

[citizenusa-2009]

This afternoon Bush said he will be "home" in 39 days..but whose counting? Many of our Iraq soldiers were counting too...but they never got to come home.

What''s wrong with this picture?

[citizenusa-2009]

You could line up Republicans 4 deep and they will never come close to the Bill Clinton dam break...please...tell yourself all you want that your guys are better and it just makes you look more and more pathetic and dumb. It''''s politicians, baby...stop trying to pick a winning side.

Posted by likeitis5050 at 04:23 PM : Dec 11, 2008

What didn''t you like about the Clinton administration..the Peace or the Prosperity?

Obviously, you feel "more in your element" when governed by a "Dictator"...suggestion: Move to Texas so you won''t have to worship him from afar...

[likeitis5050]

Republican''''s have been involved in scandal after scandal over the past 2 decades. I guess it is just expected from the Republicans. If the Democrats have a couple scandalous members it is a big freaking deal since it is not expected. Well I would rather be the exception that proves the rule than to be in a group that is expected to be corrupt.


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Posted by rmonroe401

You could line up Republicans 4 deep and they will never come close to the Bill Clinton dam break...please...tell yourself all you want that your guys are better and it just makes you look more and more pathetic and dumb. It''s politicians, baby...stop trying to pick a winning side.

[likeitis5050]

The article makes it sound like this is a sudden setback....Congress has a lower approval rating than Bush and have had for over a year...and they have had control for even longer. They haven''t hit a rough patch...they''ve hit the wall. It was bound to happen. Get Pelosi out and things might improve..no...Reid, too...and take Frank with them while they''re at it. Worthless.

[rmonroe401]

Why is it such a big deal that there are a couple of bad apple Democrats out there. Republican''s have been involved in scandal after scandal over the past 2 decades. I guess it is just expected from the Republicans. If the Democrats have a couple scandalous members it is a big freaking deal since it is not expected. Well I would rather be the exception that proves the rule than to be in a group that is expected to be corrupt.

[inketolstoy]

"just an unusual situation where you had this member who was under this enormous ethical cloud.%u201D

I am assuming the "unusual situation" refers to the election, not the fact that another crooked politician has been caught with his fat, chocolate smeared head trapped in the cookie jar.

Do me a favor somebody, and make me a list of all governors and congressmen who have been indicted or accused and/or convicted in the last decade. Then tell me the percentage out of the total.

[candy-apple]

%u201CTwo of these were Republican seats,%u201D Frost said, referring to Chambliss and McCrery%u2019s seats. %u201CThe Jefferson seat was just an unusual situation where you had this member who was under this enormous ethical cloud.%u201D

The so-called "ethical cloud" has been hanging over Jefferson''s head since before the last election. Maybe the people of the 2nd district finally woke up and realized that they would look like even bigger idiots if they re-elected him since the indictment.