Democrats assess Hill damage, leadership

[babylonsister]

And the Dems are stunned? Why? I'm stunned at their caving. :eyes:


Democrats assess Hill damage, leadership

By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 28 minutes ago


WASHINGTON - Congressional Democrats will have plenty to ponder during the Christmas-New Year recess. For instance, why did things go so badly this fall, and how well did their leaders serve them?

Partisan players will quarrel for months, but objective analysts say the debate must start here: An embattled president made extraordinary use of his veto power and he was backed by GOP lawmakers who may have put their political fortunes at risk.

Also, a new Democratic leadership team overestimated the impact of the Iraq war and the 2006 elections, learning too late they had no tools to force Bush and his allies to compromise on bitterly contested issues.

Both parties seem convinced that voters will reward them 11 months from now. And they agree that Congress' gridlock and frustration are likely to continue until then — and possibly beyond — unless the narrow party margins in the House and Senate change appreciably.

In a string of setbacks last week, Democratic leaders in Congress yielded to Bush and his GOP allies on Iraqi war funding, tax and health policies, energy policy and spending decisions affecting billions of dollars throughout the government.

The concessions stunned many House and Senate Democrats, who saw the 2006 elections as a mandate to redirect the war and Bush's domestic priorities. Instead, they found his goals unchanged and his clout barely diminished.

more...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071216/ap_on_go_co/congress_democrats;_ylt=ApWWgDmEX9Tng.rs5GFo5zCs0NUE

[kurth]

1. "They found his goals unchanged and his clout barely diminished"

Did they expect the monkey to go and prostrate himself before the Capitol?

[Perry Logan]

2. Don't forget: the AP is enemy propaganda.

"President Bush's success rating in the Democratic-controlled House has fallen this year to a half-century low, and he prevailed on only 14 percent of the 76 roll call votes on which he took a clear position.

"So far this year, Democrats have backed the majority position of their caucus 91 percent of the time on average on such votes. That marks the highest Democratic unity score in 51 years."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1728952&mesg_id=1728952
http://public.cq.com/docs/cqt/news110-000002576765.html

Don't let the media rhetoric fool you. The Democrats have acquitted themselves quite well--especially given their bare majority in both houses, and a relentlessly obstructionist Republican minority.

this 110th Congress has had more roll call votes this year than any
other Congress in history, almost doubling the number under the previous Congress overseen by Boehner
and House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL):
The House last week held its 943rd roll call vote of the year, breaking the previous
record of 942 votes, a mark set in 1978. The vote was on a procedural motion related to a
mortgage foreclosure bill. When the House adjourned on Oct. 4 for the long weekend, the
chamber had reached 948 roll call votes, putting Democrats on pace to easily eclipse 1,000
votes on the House floor in 2007.
Last year, the Republican controlled House held 543 votes, and for historical comparison,
the last time there was a shift in power in Congress, Republicans held 885 roll call votes in
1995. The Senate, which has held 363 votes this year, isn’t on pace to break any
records, but has already surpassed the 2006 Senate mark of 279 votes.
Much of the lack of progress can be traced back to obstructionism by conservatives. Approximately “1 in
6 roll-call votes in the Senate this year have been cloture votes,” noted a JulyMcClatchy report. “If this
pace of blocking legislation continues, this 110th Congress will be on track to roughly triple the previous
record number of cloture votes.”
It’s interesting that Boehner is criticizing the 110th Congress as doing nothing. After all, the House, under
his leadership, met for just 101 days during the second session of the 109th Congress, setting the record
“for the fewest days in session in one year since the end ofWorld War II.”

There are countless investigations going on. Healthcare is on the table. The internet is safe for now. Our wounded vets are no longer lying around in their own urine. The Senate Ethics Committee is back in action. Many 9/11 Commission recommendations are being passed. A bill to increase financial aid for colleges has passed--the single largest increase in college aid since the GI bill. The President's signing statements are being investigated. Legislation to restore habeus corpus has been approved. The Senate Armed Services Committee has passed legislation "that would grant new rights to terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay. The unions have a voice in the government now—as do gays, women, and minorities. The environment has a fighting chance. The House passed the Taxpayer Protection Act, to protect taxpayers against "identity theft, deceptive Web sites and loan sharks." It also makes it "easier for taxpayers to retrieve property lost as a result of a wrongful Internal Revenue Service levy and directs the IRS to notify lower-income people that they qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit." The House approved a bill spending $1.7 billion over five years for cleaner water. There's a new House committee devoted solely to addressing the issue of global warming. And so on.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. Which is reflected in their astounding ratings in the polls.

http://www.pollingreport.com/CongJob.htm

[flashl]

5. Great post.

[OzarkDem]

8. Polls show otherwise

http://www.pollingreport.com/cong_dem.htm

Congressional Dem approval has dropped to 40%. Its easy to make a list of things they're doing, but the public is judging them on how hard they're working on them. The constant capitulation without a fight to such a wildly unpopular President on key issues is what the public sees and they don't like it.

Dems were given a mandate in 06 and they haven't followed through. Instead they've spent a lot of time either telling the public the mandate they gave them was wrong or complaining about Bush. Voters aren't fools, they can see that the Dems haven't waged many hard fights in defense of their agenda.

Even so, I think voters are still willing to give them a chance, but some of the damage has already been done. The public trust in Dems overall to get the job done has been eroded significantly and it will hurt our candidates in '08 if things remain the same.

[Taverner]

3. The threat of a coup can be intimidating

Why they didn't go public with Bush's threats, I have no clue. Only one lawmaker did...

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. Total BS! "overestimated the impact of the Iraq war and the 2006 elections

learning too late they had no tools to force Bush and his allies to compromise on bitterly contested issues."

How about not funding the war? How's that for a tool?

[OzarkDem]

7. DLC controlled Congress isn't doing well

Dems in Congress have really taken a hit in public opinion polls, not as bad as the GOP, but nearly so.

Their approval rating has gone from 54% after the midterms to 40% today.

http://www.pollingreport.com/cong_dem.htm

GOP Congressional approval is in the basement

http://www.pollingreport.com/cong_rep.htm

Check the mixed forums and you'll see the right wingers making big hay with these numbers and saying it will hurt Dems in '08.

Big miscalculation on the part of the DLC leaders, or maybe not.