Michael Barley's Blog
Michael Barley's Blog
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Every Democrat for himself
Things have certainly changed a great deal over the last four years since the 2006 midterm elections, when Democrats took control of Congress.
Democrats are now stricken with an increasingly unpopular president, controversial Democratic leaders (see Pelosi, Reid, Rendell), policies Americans don’t agree with (see government-run health care, cap-and-trade energy tax, stimulus, etc.), numerous scandals (see Jobgate, Rangel, Waters) and have overseen the worst economic climate since the Great Depression.
It’s not surprising, then, that Democratic candidates up and down the ballot seem to be aware of the difficulties they are facing in the upcoming election, and most are employing the “every man or woman for themselves” strategy.
Looking for proof?
One need only look no further than President Obama’s visit to Pittsburgh following the May primary. The only Democrat who showed up to the event was Senator Arlen Specter who, despite Obama’s endorsement, had just been rejected overwhelmingly by Pennsylvania voters.
Not convinced? Explain why Dan Onorato, who has been a spirited and enthusiastic supporter of Gov. Ed Rendell and his agenda for the better part of the decade, has avoided any mention of the governor like he’s a fiscally responsible alternative to the Drink Tax. And while we’re at it, why has Joe Sestak avoided being linked to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, despite the fact they agree on nearly all major policy issues?
While I have focused on Pennsylvania candidates, this issue is a nationwide epidemic for Democrats. ABC News released an article over the weekend, entitled Democrats Keep Distance From Each Other, which talks about how and why Democrats are running for the hills.
With the recent ethics lapses that continue to plague Democratic leaders in Congress, one can only expect Democratic candidates to work to increase the distance between themselves and Democratic Party leaders facing trouble. The Wall Street Journal released an article on Monday entitled Ethical Woes Fog Democrat Hopes for November, which highlighted the issues Democrats will face in the upcoming election in the wake of scandals by high ranking Democratic Congress members Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters.
The Democratic promises to rid corruption in our nation’s capitol are looking more and more like empty campaign rhetoric and another broken promise.
While Democrats are running away from one another and trying to distance themselves from scandals, Republicans have the opportunity to talk about the important issues facing the nation and state, including job creation and reducing the size of government. This is beginning to look a lot like 2006, except the Republican and Democratic parties’ roles are reversed.
I continue to expect great things for Republicans this November.
August 2, 2010 at 4:05 pm
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Bio: Michael Barley is communications and technology director for the Pennsylvania Republican Party.
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T. D.
Aug 2nd, 2010
this is just an awful column. why SHOULD these candidates use said surrogates in their campaigns? Also, the Democrats are overseeing the Great Recession that was caused in large part due to the GOP’s irresponsibility. And…..health care reform is gaining in popularity. Sheesh. What crappy writing.
Matt from UD
Aug 2nd, 2010
What, are you getting a show on Fox or something. This is at best partisan rhetoric. Citing Rangel’s trial as a case of Dems covering for corruption is pretty flimsy since the Speaker of the House is doing it, not to mention, when is the GOP trying Gov. Sanford, or any of the numerous cases of scandal the GOP buries. I am looking forward to the investigation of how the RNC pisses away donor money at strip joints, or our own Attorney Generals investigation into Meehan’s forged petition signatures. No sir, the GOP is truly the transparent party. Nice one sided article.
sue
Aug 2nd, 2010
dream on! pennsylvania will reject the racists and the know-nothings and the extremist candidates of the republicans.
tom
Aug 2nd, 2010
Good article!
flynnbw
Aug 3rd, 2010
The fact is, the Rangel and Waters cases would never have even been taken up under the GOP Congress’s ethics rules. While politically unfortunate for the Democrats in the short term, this is a positive step forward in terms of transparency and accountability in Washington.
Bryan C
Aug 3rd, 2010
T.D.
The recession was caused by greed, plain and simple. Greed has no party boundries as much as you would like to think so. Rangel is proof enough of that. Also, health care reform is gaining in popularity? Really? Where is that, California a state which is already broke. Many doctors are (and have been for years now it seems) not accepting new Medicare or Medicaide patients due to the inability of the government to pay the bills on time. Do you really think Obamacare will make this better or worse?
Sue:
You seem quick to pull out the race card and put it on an entire group of people. You are definitely Obama material. He pulls out the race card for everyone who doesn’t agree with him. Because after all, if you don’t agree with him you must be a racist. Does that mean that all the black or hispanic people who didn’t agree with Bush were racists because he was white? You can’t have it both ways.
One Who Knows
Aug 3rd, 2010
This column brings up a very interesting, mostly under-the-radar indicator of trouble for Democrats: within a Party that’s pledged itself to be about unity, rank-and-file Democrats like Sestak and Onorato realize that they’re not going to win running on their record and that of their Party.
Why else would these Dems become suddenly too busy to gain a photo-op with the President? Why else would they be running against Nancy Pelosi and Ed Rendell, if not because they now that the voters are suffering from big government fatigue?
With GOPers maintaining a solid lead in both the race for Governor and the top races for Congress, I think Dems are in for a rude awakening this November.