- MENU
- HOME
- SEARCH
- WORLD
- MAIN
- AFRICA
- ASIA
- BALKANS
- EUROPE
- LATIN AMERICA
- MIDDLE EAST
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Argentina
- Australia
- Austria
- Benelux
- Brazil
- Canada
- China
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- India
- Indonesia
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Korea
- Mexico
- New Zealand
- Pakistan
- Philippines
- Poland
- Russia
- South Africa
- Spain
- Taiwan
- Turkey
- USA
- BUSINESS
- WEALTH
- STOCKS
- TECH
- HEALTH
- LIFESTYLE
- ENTERTAINMENT
- SPORTS
- RSS
- iHaveNet.com: Politics
by Jules Witcover
Nothing has irritated Democrats in
But welcome now to the midterm congressional election season. With predictions continuing to run rampant of major Democratic losses in November, they were fueled most recently by
Gibbs quickly backtracked, saying he was confident it wouldn't happen. But that was enough to ignite the partisanship in Obama, with a barrage of stump assaults on the opposition party for rejecting his repeated overtures to its yet-to-be-seen conciliatory side.
In campaign speeches for Democratic congressional candidates, the Mr. Nice Guy Obama of earlier days was not heard. Instead, he lashed out at the Republican leadership in
Then, in a classic case of shooting fish in a barrel, the president took to the Rose Garden on the morning of a sure-thing vote in the
His appearance and words were timed and orchestrated to make more political hay in a fight he had already won. The interim appointment by Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin of West Virginia of another Democrat to replace the late Sen. Robert Byrd provided the one needed vote to dodge a Republican filibuster on the jobs benefits bill. The new senator, Carte Goodwin, then dutifully cast it.
Goodwin said he was privileged to cast the vote "that helps millions of Americans and 12,000 West Virginians who are still looking for work as the economy continues to turn around," in the process throwing in a verbal boost for Obama's recovery efforts.
The show left the Senate Republicans with the exception of Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine and Scott Brown of Massachusetts being cast as Scrooges in the staged drama.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was reduced to playing the deficit card -- the recently acquired
"There's no debate in the
His Republican colleague, John Cornyn of Texas, echoed: "When given the option to pay for these benefits with unused stimulus funds, the president and congressional Democrats chose adding to the country's red ink over fiscal responsibility."
Some recent polls have indicated rising voter concern over the mounting federal debt resulting from Obama's huge stimulus package, and doubts about its effectiveness in stirring economic recovery. But the Democratic strategists are banking more on a perception of Republican disregard for the plight of the jobless, an estimated 2 million or more of whom have lost their unemployment benefits since May.
The stage is thus set for a continuing debate on compassion versus frugality in the House and
The president's efforts to remind voters that his first term has to a considerable degree been hostage to inherited economic and foreign policy woes seems not to have gained much traction. So now, with George W. Bush gone, he is focusing more on making the Republicans in
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
WORLD | AFRICA | ASIA | EUROPE | LATIN AMERICA | MIDDLE EAST | UNITED STATES | ECONOMICS | EDUCATION | ENVIRONMENT | FOREIGN POLICY | POLITICS
Bipartisanship on Hold | Politics
© iHaveNet