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- iHaveNet.com: Politics
by Kenneth T. Walsh
Republicans are deciding whether to focus on the president or Pelosi and Reid
Americans are starting their summer vacations, but in Washington it's business as usual. And that business is politics.
President Obama and his Democrats are vying with the Republicans to get every possible advantage in the mid-term elections this November. And while voters probably want a break from politics for a couple of months, the politicians are neck-deep in a perpetual campaign.
There's a steady stream of E-mails, news releases, political ads, and broadsides emanating from the party headquarters, from the national committees that represent House and
The Republican Study Committee, an arm of House Republicans, is back on the anti-tax theme, attempting to connect it to the all-important unemployment issue. The panel pointed out that 69 percent of Americans believe that tax cuts are a better way to boost employment than government spending, while only 15 percent say government spending is the better answer, according to Rasmussen Reports. This is part of the overall Republican effort to stay firmly associated with tax cuts, a cornerstone of
The Republicans are still trying to decide whether to focus on attacking Obama as a big-spending, big-government liberal or
make the campaign more about Democratic congressional leaders such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who are lightning rods for conservatives. The
Meanwhile, the
Finally, Obama has been looking more and more like a candidate, even though his name won't be on the ballot this fall. Campaigning for Democratic Senate candidate Robin Carnahan in Kansas City last week, Obama said the current recession is the result of a decade of irresponsible Republican policies. "You cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires who don't need the tax cuts," he said, adding, "You cut rules and regulations for the most powerful institutions...and you cut working people loose to fend for themselves." He said Carnahan "is not going to Washington to represent the oil industry or the insurance industry or the banks on Wall Street" but to represent everyday people from Missouri. Obama's use of populist rhetoric is an attempt to recapture the excitement that he rode into the
The problem for Obama is that his core supporters--including young voters, African Americans, and Latinos--aren't motivated to vote this November. His name isn't on the ballot, so many true believers will stay home. For others, Obama's luster has faded because of the recession, unemployment, the Afghanistan war, and other factors. Obama's
Overall, the emerging campaign themes for both parties prove once again that the more things change, the more they remain the same.
Available at Amazon.com:
The Disappearing Center: Engaged Citizens, Polarization, and American Democracy
The Virtues of Mendacity: On Lying in Politics
Bush on the Home Front: Domestic Policy Triumphs and Setbacks
The Political Fix: Changing the Game of American Democracy, from the Grassroots to the White House
AMERICAN POLITICS
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2010 Elections: Obama and Democrats Locked in a Perpetual Campaign | Politics
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