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Democrats’ Biggest Problem Is Spending, Not Gridlock
Tweet Share on Facebook November 12, 2009 Comment (5)By Doug Heye, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
In the interest of participatory debate, I must disagree with Peter Roff.
Indecision regarding Afghanistan is a problem President Barack Obama is battling, at least in perception. But voters still want the president to make the right decision and to follow through on his oft-repeated campaign pledge to listen to the generals on the ground. Should he do so, or come up with a proposal the generals find to be a workable solution, the timing of such a decision becomes less a factor and the president may well earn bipartisan praise. (Though I agree, time is running out.)
And while gridlock demonstrates the difficulties of governing, the stimulus bill was signed into law and Obamacare passed the House. Given what we've seen so far this year, voters may actually want more gridlock. The 39 Democrats who defied Speaker Nancy Pelosi and voted against the healthcare reform bill didn't do so because of worries about gridlock, they did so precisely because their constituents wanted it stopped.
No, the Democratic Party has a larger problem. It's called spending.
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Pelosi’s Cynical Politics: Cutting the Voters Out of the Healthcare Debate
Tweet Share on Facebook November 10, 2009 Comment (15)By Doug Heye, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Did you get the sense that the House Democratic Leadership was frantic, even desperate, to nail down the vote for the 1,990-page healthcare reform bill?
No, not the actual votes from members Democrats were worried might go south on them—though House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer had good reason to be concerned about that; 39 Democrats opposed their party's bill—but scheduling the actual vote itself. It had to be before the Veterans' Day recess.
What was the hurry? The vote was promised before Congress' August recess and didn't happen—what are a few more days to allow the legislation to be seen by the American public for 72 hours, as Pelosi promised?
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Democrats Don't Have the Votes to Pass Healthcare Reform
Tweet Share on Facebook November 6, 2009 Comment (17)By Doug Heye, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
We've been talking about the White House's healthcare proposal for how long now? Well, pretty much all year.
Democratic leaders promised a vote before the August recess. That deadline not only wasn't reached, it led to Democrats being savaged at local town halls that were covered live on national television. Then we were told a vote would occur in September. No dice. October? Ditto.
Now the World Series has passed (Way to go, Yankees!) and we're told a vote will be held on Saturday, a rare occurrence of Congress working on a weekend.
President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit with congressional Democrats tomorrow to urge support of the $1.2 trillion measure. That signals one thing: They don't have the votes.
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Republican Victories Would Lay Bare Internal Democratic Conflicts
Tweet Share on Facebook November 3, 2009 Comment (7)By Doug Heye, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
"I do think that if the results show Republicans have a pretty good night, that probably is going to lead some Democrats to think that, going into next year, we need to take a second look at the way we've done a lot of bills we've addressed up to this point," Rep. Jason Altmire, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, told the Fox Business Network last night.
Given the media's obsession with how the special election in New York's 23rd Congressional District affects the Republican Party outside of NY-23, it's of note to see a Democrat openly talking about his party's own internal conflicts.
Altmire, an outspoken congressman in his second term, is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition made up of conservative and centrist Democrats.
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Dan Snyder Unifies Redskins Fans in Misery--Rush Limbaugh Could Do Better
Tweet Share on Facebook October 30, 2009 Comment (7)By Doug Heye, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
"It's about unity...we do not move towards divisive actions," National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell told the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday.
How fitting it was that Goodell made the comment in Washington, a town that knows the concept of unity better than any other. Washington is unified like never before. Not, however, because of promises of unity from President Barack Obama or former President George W. Bush. No, the only person who can successfully unite Washington is Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder.
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How the World Series Could Affect the New Jersey Governor's Race
Tweet Share on Facebook October 28, 2009 Comment (2)By Doug Heye, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
With the New Jersey gubernatorial race going down to the wire, anything can happen and anything can affect the outcome.
Even the World Series.
Had teams other than the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies both advanced, the Series would be of no political consequence. But New York and Philadelphia are not merely cities close to New Jersey who happen to host the teams. The cities sandwich the Garden State and are its two largest media markets.
That certainly could affect paid advertisements on television, but the series, which puts the entire state in baseball overload, will make it harder for the candidates to gain earned media from newspapers and local television.
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Virginia Democrat Deeds is Running Out of Time and Money
Tweet Share on Facebook October 27, 2009 Comment (3)By Doug Heye, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
With President Barack Obama campaigning for Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds at Old Dominion University today, talk is swelling that Deeds's campaign is all but over.
A Washington Post poll released late yesterday shows Republican Bob McDonnell with a 55-44 lead over Deeds. Such a lead is, of course, tough to overcome. It's even tougher when polling data demonstrate there's little room to move upward:
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Obama's Democrats Blame Deeds for Poor Campaign in Virginia
Tweet Share on Facebook October 23, 2009 Comment (7)By Doug Heye, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Just days before President Barack Obama is scheduled to campaign for Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds, the White House is sending signals that Deeds's campaign is over, or as tweeted by CNN's Peter Hamby this morning, "keeping it classy by trashing Deeds anonymously."
At issue is a Washington Post story headlined "Deeds ignored advice, White House says."
Publicly airing complaints that Deeds is a weak candidate, one who didn't embrace key Obama constituencies—especially African-Americans in Richmond and the Norfolk/Newport News area (Richmond Mayor Doug Wilder's refusal to endorse Deeds was surely a blow)—and indeed, has not fully embraced Barack Obama himself, all lays the groundwork that if Deeds loses, despite the best efforts of the Obama team, he has no one to blame but himself.
Anyone who was worked political campaigns can tell you that when your candidate is down in the polls, the Washington chattering class, regardless of party, will start pointing fingers and say, "If only Candidate X was listening to our advice..." Anonymously, of course. This is what's happening to Creigh Deeds now.
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Obama's War on Limbaugh and Fox Will Backfire With Voters
Tweet Share on Facebook October 22, 2009 Comment (79)By Doug Heye, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
The president has learned it's easier to burn bridges than build them.
And despite having been elected in part to unify all Americans and put an end to partisan division, the administration is intent on lighting as many fires as it can. In doing so, Obama is essentially creating a liberal version of Richard Nixon's "Enemies List."
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High Liberal Hopes Threaten to Crash Down on Obama
Tweet Share on Facebook October 19, 2009 Comment (5)By Doug Heye, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
"Frustrated Liberal Lawmaker Balances Beliefs and Politics," reads the headline of a New York Times story from over the weekend.
The profile of Oregon Democratic Congressman Earl Blumenauer, penned by Times ' s Congressional ace Carl Hulse, highlights the increasing uneasiness many on the left are experiencing with the Obama administration. It's not quite disillusionment, but it could be getting there.
