How many times can a majority party goof up? Plenty, as the Democrats are proving. After regaining pluralities in both houses of Congress as a result of the 2006 elections, Democratic leaders made ambitious pledges. Amid much ballyhoo, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi promised to "drain the swamp" and "govern for the people." Proposed reforms included full implementation of 9/11 commission recommendations, expanding federal funding for stem cell research, raising the federal minimum wage, removing tax breaks and raising royalty payments for oil and gas producers, lowering interest rates on student loans, and allowing the federal government to negotiate drug prices for Medicare recipients. Whew! All this was on the agenda for the first 100 hours! Not long thereafter Democrats found themselves in a leadership quagmire. Sniping from the cover of minority party really is easier than governing as the majority. In a few short months, Ms. Pelosi and friends have managed to enrage the far left, terrify the far right, while leaving many in the middle longing for the good old days of 2005.
First and foremost, shortly after the 110th Congress opened for business it became painfully clear Democrats had run against President Bush, against corrupt Republicans in the House and Senate, and against the war in Iraq, positions culminating in a victorious mid-term election. But now, what were they for? The items on the legislative table — those mentioned above plus a page reform program, ethics reform legislation, and Congressional voting rights for the Washington D.C. representative — by and large did not coincide with the passions of Democratic voters. Those electing the Democrats wanted an immediate change in the war effort in Iraq, primarily the setting of dates for withdrawal. What they got — the Surge — was the exact opposite of their aspirations and revealed the Congressional Democrats’ weakness. Time and again, a lame duck President with terrible approval numbers out-maneuvered the Dems, beating them on the war, stem cell research, and SCHIP, to name a few. Meanwhile, Democratic investigations into everything under the sun backfired, appearing to be petty politics, fiddling as Iraq burned. Congressional approval ratings plummeted to as low as 11%. Yikes!
Today’s news, unfortunately for the left, is more of the same, another instance of Democrats shooting their own foot. Sticking to their faulty playbook, Democrats stayed with the failed strategy of "all opposition to the President all the time." Having successfully badgered Attorney General Alberto Gonzales into resigning, several prominent Democrats decided to derail President Bush’s next nominee, Michael B. Mukasey. Senators Kennedy, Biden, Leahy, Durbin, Dodd, Kerry, Clinton, and Obama stated their opposition to the retired federal judge, albeit in unusually polite terms. But, in order to block Mr. Mukasey’s consideration by the full Senate, every Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee had to vote "no." Alas, Senator Chuck Schumer, D-New York and a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, had recommended Mr. Mukasey to President Bush as Alberto Gonzales’ replacement. (Mukasey was a federal judge in New York). By their strong opposition to Mr. Mukasey, Democratic leaders placed Senator Schumer between the proverbial rock and hard place. By voting against his own recommendation, Mr. Schumer would join the ranks of Kerry and Clinton as the party’s leading flip-floppers. To vote for Mr. Mukasey, as he did today, Senator Schumer has put himself at odds with his Senate chums on the far left, exposing an unnecessary rift in the ranks. Democrats haven’t played the political game this badly since the early years of the Reagan administration when the Gipper repeatedly out-flanked them.
If Democrats hope to retain congressional control in 2008, jettisoning their anti-Bush-at-all-costs gambit should become priority number one, with improving in-house communication running a close second. They have about one year to prove to the American people they really are superior to Republicans, something the Republicans have made quite easy. Focusing on what the Democratic Party is for may turn out to be what’s best for the party. Meanwhile, what’s best for the country continues to be stuck in the mire of partisan politics.
Posted by Jerry Pomeroy in Politics