Democrats Shift to Blame the GOP Strategy for 2010 Elections

In a dramatic strategic shift prompted by recent controversial GOP statements on BP and Wall Street reform, Democrats are now eager to nationalize the fall elections where they plan to make the case that Republicans want to stop President Obama's change agenda and return to the Bush blueprint.

The shift was sparked by recent statements from Rep. Joe Barton apologizing to BP executives for the pressure the administration has brought on the company to pay for the Gulf oil spill and House Minority Leader John Boehner's comment that Obama's response to Wall Street shenanigans was like "killing an ant with a nuclear weapon." Now House and Senate Democrats plan to raise those comments as they argue that while their agenda isn't popular, returning to the Bush agenda is even less popular. [See which industries give the most to Barton.]

"If the election was going to be about us, we'd get slaughtered," says a party source. "But now they've given us this opening to bring them into the election which up to now hasn't been the case." Part of the effort will include focusing on who the GOP would put in major roles, such as committee chairmanships, if they take the House and how those new chairman would thwart Obama and favor GOP supporters.

The goal is to "make the Republicans relevant" in the upcoming election and highlight the contract between how they would govern versus how the Democrats would. "We're going to make the contrast of how we plan to go forward and they backward," says the source.

The effort started when House Democratic leaders began to raise comments from Barton and Boehner, but has picked up steam this week with President Obama echoing their charges that GOP control would give corporate America and oil companies too much power. In Missouri this week, Obama poked fun at the Republicans and how the Democrats need to keep the government's keys from the GOP in the upcoming election. [See where Boehner's campaign cash comes from.]

"I don't have a teenager yet, but in a couple years, Malia is going to be able to drive—right? She gets—that's what happens with teenagers, right, they go get the learners permit. If your teenager drives into a ditch, your car, bangs it up, you've got to pay a lot of money to get it out, what do you do? You take the keys away.

"These folks drove the economy into a ditch, and they want the keys back. And you got to say the same thing to them that you say to your teenager: You can't have the keys back because you don't know how to drive yet. You can't have the keys. You can't have them. Maybe you take a remedial course. I'll take you out to the parking lot and you can drive in circles. But we're not going to let you out on the open road. You can't drive."

• See who in Congress gets the most from the oil industry.
• See a slide show of the 10 keys to an Obama comeback.
• See a slide show of 11 hot races in November.