Voter Malaise -- Whose Fault Is It, Anyway?

Bob Herbert writes that "voters do not feel that the administration and Congress have delivered the fundamental change they were seeking when they swept President Obama and huge Democratic majorities into office nearly two years ago." He argues that "The Democrats are facing an election debacle because they did not respond adequately to their constituents’ most dire needs."

The Times Troll-ops buried my response again, so here it is:

While I am in fundamental agreement with you, the fact is that the Democratic leadership in the Senate was always working from a position of weakness. When they were trying to push through the stimulus bill, Norm Coleman was still holding Al Franken hostage & Arlen Specter was still a Republican. The President hit on that theme in his press conference today. As Ezra Klein pointed out the other day, the shape of the stimulus bill would have been much different if the Party of No had not been almost universally united against it. (In the end, no Republican House member & only three Republican Senators voted for it.) Not only were the Ladies from Maine busily watering down the bill, so did every Democrat with "an agenda."

So it isn't as if Barack Obama & Harry Reid could have waved magic wands & put together a package that would have saved substantially more jobs. The amazing Nancy Pelosi, who had a healthy majority in the House, did of course hold her cats together. We should all be grateful to her.

It was also Pelosi who salvaged what was left of healthcare legislation (according to published reports). And more to your point, it was she (among the leadership) who first heeded the warnings of columnists like you that the Democrats had better get on the jobs, jobs, jobs bandwagon.

Unfortunately, they're still just barely hanging onto the side of the wagon. So many Democrats are willing to sacrifice both jobs & entitlement programs in the name of cutting the deficit, while expressing a willingness to vote instead to increase it by extending tax cuts to the wealthy. Instead of cleaving to these Republican chimera, which will not win them a single vote, Democrats MUST return to the party's basic principles.

The country depends on the Democrats. That, by itself, is a frightening thing. The alternative, of course, would be a disaster.

Man Pants!

Gail Collins writes about the strange views & campaign of Delaware's tea party favorite Christine O'Donnell, who is challenging long-time Rep. Mike Castle for the Republican Senate nomination. CW: Collins' column is really worth a read, especially if you want a good look at the kind of candidate Sarah Palin backs against the preferred candidate of her own party.

The Constant Weader is three-for-three with the Times Troll-ops today (buried or lost altogether), so here's what I had to say about candidate O'Donnell:

What is exceptionally creepy about O'Donnell's attack ad against Mike Castle is that she actually copied it, nearly word-for-word except for the appropriate name changes, from one of Sharron Angle's ads against Harry Reid. Imagine having two Sharron Angles in the Senate, one a clone of the other.

     Here's O'Donnell's ad attacking Castle:

     Here's Angle's ad attacking Reid:

Some Republicans may be glad to hear about O'Donnell's important stance on masturbation. This was also a concern of Justice Scalia's, and he said so in his dissent in Lawrence v. Texas, the landmark case that struck down Texas' sodomy law & has been (as Scalia feared) instrumental in advancing gay rights.

O'Donnell doesn't seem to be much into gay rights, either. Just as O'Donnell's new best friend Sarah Palin called a gay journalist "impotent" and "limp" after he wrote an unfavorable article about her, O'Donnell has taken to questioning Mike Castle's masculinity. Apparently some of O'Donnell's backers have said Castle was gay (oh, my!). O'Donnell herself responded to an FEC Complaint filed against her by the Republican party by saying

You know, these are the kind of cheap, underhanded, un-manly tactics that we've come to expect from Obama's favorite Republican, Mike Castle. You know, I released a statement today, saying Mike this is not a bake-off, get your man-pants on.

Here's the audio. The money quote begins at about 2:50 min. in:

Isn't that just the kind of language we want to hear on the Senate floor? It's great to have true candidates of the people, and not all of us people are well-spoken. But shouldn't we expect more from our candidates? There is something, after all, to be said for decorum.

Update: and once again, Karen Garcia hits it out of the park. See her Comment (#4) here.

The Commentariat -- September 10

President Obama holds a press conference:

     ... Here's the transcript of the full presser.

New York Times: "The 'don’t ask, don’t tell' policy toward gay members of the military is unconstitutional, a federal judge in California ruled Thursday. Judge Virginia A. Phillips of Federal District Court struck down the rule in an opinion issued late in the day.... The plaintiffs, challenged the law under the Fifth and First Amendments to the Constitution, and Judge Phillips agreed." You can read the 86-page ruling here.

Greg Sargent on allowing tax cuts for the rich to expire. Dear Democrats, the public is already on board. Please, go for it: "This, of all things, is not an issue where Dems should conclude in advance -- as they often do -- that once Republicans go on the attack, it's game over and Dems can't possibly win the argument."

The don’t ask, don’t tell act infringes the fundamental rights of United States service members in many ways. ... Far from furthering the military's readiness, the discharge of these service men and women had a direct and deleterious effect on this governmental interest. -- Federal District Judge Virginia Phillips

Thom Shanker of the New York Times: "... Salvatore Giunta of Hiawatha, Iowa, who is now 25 and a staff sergeant, will become the first living service member to receive the Medal of Honor, the military’s most prestigious award, for action during the wars since September 11, 2001." Washington Post story here, with more details of Giunta's heroics.

Samuel Freedman: for years there was a Muslim prayer room on the 17th floor of the south tower of the World Trade Center. The bombing by Muslim extremists in 1993 did not change that. ...

... Oh, What Will Newt & Mitt Do? Justin Elliott of Slate: Gingrich, Romney & some other big-name Republicans & conservatives will be sharing the stage next week with virulent Islamophobe Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association (such a nice name) at the Values Voters Summit (such a nice name) next week. Elliott thinks leaders have an obligation to call out Fischer of bigots.

Jonathan Salant & Kristin Jensen of Bloomberg: "At least 25 'super PACS,' including one linked to Karl Rove, are fueling a surge in money for this year’s elections following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down limits on corporate campaign spending. These political action committees can take unlimited company, union and individual donations and explicitly urge voters to support or oppose candidates, unlike ordinary PACs and nonprofit groups":

Americans are ... seeing a flood of attack ads run by shadowy groups with harmless-sounding names. We don’t know who’s behind these ads and we don’t know who’s paying for them. -- Barack Obama (view video here)

T. W. Farnum of the Washington Post : "Capitol Hill employees owed $9.3 million in overdue taxes at the end of last year, a sliver of the $1 billion owed by federal workers nationwide but one with potential political ramifications for members of Congress.... Ssome Republican members are pushing for the firings of government workers who owe the IRS...."

Nature Editorial Board: "There is a growing anti-science streak on the American right that could have tangible societal and political impacts on many fronts — including regulation of environmental and other issues and stem-cell research."

Guess I'd better start promoting this guy...

... or I'll be helping out these guys: