Political Chicken
Stuart Rothenberg looks at the game of political chicken going on in Washington right now and says that the conventional wisdom - that Republicans are on the ropes - is more than a little optimistic and may, in fact, be completely wrong.
Democrats, on the other hand, are on the political upswing after last year's elections. The party's image is relatively good, and the party's agenda seems in sync with most voters. The party's House and Senate campaign committees are flush with cash, and Democratic voters seem enthusiastic and optimistic. Another good Democratic election seems likely, especially if Republicans look to be blocking change and defending the status quo.
Given that political environment, the president has to blink first, right?
Wrong.
The problem for Democrats is that the president has nothing left to lose. With his job ratings hovering between 30 percent and 35 percent, and Bush insistent that his political legacy will ultimately depend on what happens in the Middle East decades from now, what incentive does he have to capitulate and give legislative and political victories to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)?
If you said "none," buy yourself an ice cream cone.
Just as in the Kris Kristofferson-Janis Joplin song "Me and Bobby McGee," "freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose," and that's why the president is free to act as he has, ignoring Congressional Democrats' demands the way he has.
Bush's standing with American voters means that many will blame him for gridlock, since they don't hold him in high regard and seem to blame him pretty much for everything. But since he's not running for anything again, he doesn't have to feel their wrath.
Even today, less than a year out from the next election, the Democrats simply appear to be unable to do anything but run against George Bush. Since Bush isn't, you know, actually running for anything, this is a very odd strategy. Rothenberg points out that if the president gave in to every Democratic demand, all they would do is crow about how they rolled him - he wouldn't change a single mind. Likewise, Republican minds are already made up. The question mark, then, becomes what the independents think. And who they will blame.
They might just blame the party that appears to be a one-trick pony fixated on attacking a soon to be former president and unable to pass any of its legislative goals, don't you think?
By martian, Friday, 7 December , 2007 @ 8:56 am
I agree, Gaius. I’ve said it before, and I’ve even said it here before, if the Democratic candidates don’t figure out soon that President Bush ISN’T RUNNING in this presidential election, the fact that they all seem to be running against HIM could end up hurting them at the polls. Unfortunately for the Dems, their approach to virtually everything for the last seven years has been “how can we use this to hurt George Bush” rather than looking at any issue to determine what would be best for the American people and rather than advancing any alternative constructive plans of their own.
This strategy of total opposition has worked for them, so far. It has Pres. Bush’s approval ratings in the toilet and darn near succeeded in undermining the war effort in Afghanistan and Iraq to the point where we would have to accept a loss in at least one, possibly both of those areas which would, again, hurt Pres. Bush and his legacy. They have done this by criticizing and complaining about everything Pres. Bush even attempts to accomplish.
Unfortunately for them, complaining and criticizing only accomplishes that narrow goal of hurting Pres. Bush. It doesn’t actually solve anything. For the last seven years, the Dems have spent so much time pissing and moaning, they haven’t proposed ANY solutions to any problems - just complaints. If they can’t start coming up with some real, concrete answers to the major problems our nation is facing, it can be hoped that those independent or “swing” voters will finally take notice and reject the politics of complaint.