(1) Timing is so, so important. (2) The Democratic Party is experiencing a little intraparty stress.
A 11-8-09 post entitled "The White House has gotten bad at listening, and now it's paying the price" provided in part:
In 2009, the Democrats who run the White House and Congress chose to go down one path at the exact moment voters went down a different one.
A president has only so much time. Mr. Obama gives a lot of his to health care. But the majority of voters in New Jersey and Virginia told pollsters they were primarily worried about joblessness and the economy. They're on another path, and they don't like the path he's chosen. A majority in a Gallup poll out Wednesday said they now think the president governs from the left, not the middle. The majority did not expect that a year ago.
Today The Wall Street Journal has an article entitled "Strains in Party Threaten Democrats' Plans -- Lawmakers Feel Pressure to Respond to Voters' Economic Pain as White House, Allies Focus Efforts on Passing Health Overhaul," that reads in part as follows:
The Democratic Party's broad ruling coalition is starting to fracture as lawmakers come under increasing pressure from the left to respond to voter anger over joblessness and Wall Street bailouts.
Tensions boiled over this week, with an angry party caucus meeting Monday in the House, and black lawmakers Thursday threatening to block legislation in protest of President Barack Obama's economic policies. Along the way, members of both parties grilled Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner over his ties to Wall Street, and some called on him to resign.
The squabbling is turning up pressure on the White House and Democratic leaders in Congress to respond, a challenge when their focus is on passing a health-care overhaul. That appears less important to voters than finding solutions to economic woes, suggesting the weak labor market could overwhelm Mr. Obama's domestic agenda.
"The 2008 election wasn't about health care. It was about the economy," said David Beattie, a Democratic pollster whose clients are running for office in competitive states including Colorado, Florida and Georgia. "But we've been addressing health care and energy. People are hurting, and they want something done to alleviate that."
My own frustration has been obvious in recent recents, and was noted in a little ink I got in an article by Aaron Sheinin in the 11-19-09 issue of the AJC.
In his article Aasron investigated how our gubernatorial candidates felt about the opt out provision of the so-called "public option," and he also reported on an early November poll of residents of 11 Southern states, including Georgia, about health reform in general.
In the article I was quoted as confirming the necessity of health care reform, but questioning the timing of the current health care debate in Congress, as follows:
Sid Cottingham, an attorney and Democrat in the south Georgia town of Douglas, calls health care "a freight train on the loose, and if we don't (pass reform) none of us are going to be able to afford it."
Cottingham, who publishes a political blog called "Cracker Squire," said the costs of the Democrats plan -- estimated between $900 billion and $1.2 trillion over 10 years -- might be too high coming on the heels of bailouts of Wall Street and automakers and the $800 billion federal stimulus plan.
"Bad facts make bad law and the timing has been bad for Obama," Cottingham said. "If there was ever a time for restraint . . ."
In 2009, the Democrats who run the White House and Congress chose to go down one path at the exact moment voters went down a different one.
A president has only so much time. Mr. Obama gives a lot of his to health care. But the majority of voters in New Jersey and Virginia told pollsters they were primarily worried about joblessness and the economy. They're on another path, and they don't like the path he's chosen. A majority in a Gallup poll out Wednesday said they now think the president governs from the left, not the middle. The majority did not expect that a year ago.
Today The Wall Street Journal has an article entitled "Strains in Party Threaten Democrats' Plans -- Lawmakers Feel Pressure to Respond to Voters' Economic Pain as White House, Allies Focus Efforts on Passing Health Overhaul," that reads in part as follows:
The Democratic Party's broad ruling coalition is starting to fracture as lawmakers come under increasing pressure from the left to respond to voter anger over joblessness and Wall Street bailouts.
Tensions boiled over this week, with an angry party caucus meeting Monday in the House, and black lawmakers Thursday threatening to block legislation in protest of President Barack Obama's economic policies. Along the way, members of both parties grilled Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner over his ties to Wall Street, and some called on him to resign.
The squabbling is turning up pressure on the White House and Democratic leaders in Congress to respond, a challenge when their focus is on passing a health-care overhaul. That appears less important to voters than finding solutions to economic woes, suggesting the weak labor market could overwhelm Mr. Obama's domestic agenda.
"The 2008 election wasn't about health care. It was about the economy," said David Beattie, a Democratic pollster whose clients are running for office in competitive states including Colorado, Florida and Georgia. "But we've been addressing health care and energy. People are hurting, and they want something done to alleviate that."
My own frustration has been obvious in recent recents, and was noted in a little ink I got in an article by Aaron Sheinin in the 11-19-09 issue of the AJC.
In his article Aasron investigated how our gubernatorial candidates felt about the opt out provision of the so-called "public option," and he also reported on an early November poll of residents of 11 Southern states, including Georgia, about health reform in general.
In the article I was quoted as confirming the necessity of health care reform, but questioning the timing of the current health care debate in Congress, as follows:
Sid Cottingham, an attorney and Democrat in the south Georgia town of Douglas, calls health care "a freight train on the loose, and if we don't (pass reform) none of us are going to be able to afford it."
Cottingham, who publishes a political blog called "Cracker Squire," said the costs of the Democrats plan -- estimated between $900 billion and $1.2 trillion over 10 years -- might be too high coming on the heels of bailouts of Wall Street and automakers and the $800 billion federal stimulus plan.
"Bad facts make bad law and the timing has been bad for Obama," Cottingham said. "If there was ever a time for restraint . . ."
posted by Sid Cottingham | 12:44 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home