LAS VEGAS – President Obama is rolling dice on a recast campaign message for 2010, claiming it’s not just the economy that has failed, but the nation’s political system.
The new theme is a risky bet in an election year already shaped by a bitter, anti-incumbent sentiment among voters, who are apt to agree but not likely to sympathize.
But for Obama, the message serves a dual purpose of acknowledging why voters are unhappy while avoiding the blame for causing it.
“We’ve watched as efforts to solve tough problem fall prey to gamesmanship and partisanship, to the prosaic concerns of politics and the ever-quickening news cycle, to endless campaigns focused on scoring points instead of meeting our common challenges,” the president said last week in Las Vegas.
Raising political failure to the level of economic failure also aims to neutralize and justify Obama’s own inability to fulfill promises on job creation and economic growth that failed to materialize with his signature federal spending programs.
It seeks to place blame on Republicans and other critics of Obama’s programs, without sounding too partisan.
“And by the way, the actions of these critics speak louder than words because many of the members of Congress who voted against the Recovery Act, called it a ‘boondoggle,’ funny how they end up making appearances at ribbon-cuttings for Recovery Act projects,” Obama said. “It’s a sight to see — they’re up there cheesing and grinning.”
Obama debuted his new campaign themes last week in a two-day swing through the West to shore up struggling Democratic incumbents Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
A major concern for the Democratic Party is whether doubts over Obama’s economic policies will cost the party its majorities in the House and Senate. About a dozen Senate Democrats and dozens of House Democrats are considered vulnerable this year.
Another worry for Democrats is whether Obama will prove a liability in tight races such as Sen. Arlen Specter’s re-election bid in Pennsylvania, and Sen. Blanche Lincoln’s battle in Arkansas.
Both states are similar to Colorado in that Obama has seen his job approval ratings fall sharply as the economy has failed to improve. Obama won Colorado and Pennsylvania in 2008, but lost Arkansas to Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
“The active Democrats in this state are still wildly supportive of Obama,” said Seth Masket, a political scientist at the University of Denver.
Obama also remains a powerful fundraising force in the party. But the challenge will be bringing voters outside of the party’s grassroots back to vote in the midterms — generally low-turnout affair.
The administration has struggled to re-energize the voters that helped elect Obama in 2008. The independents who supported Obama have largely defected over his economic policies, and health care reform failed to rally young Democrats and others.
“The question we’ll have to answer now is if we’re going to learn from the past or if, in the aftermath of disaster, we’re going to repeat it,” Obama said.
