Dems infighting
might have effect on mid-term elections
The bill has put the White House at odds with the liberal wing of the party, which is actively fighting the measure even as the administration urges its passage.
“This debate has consumed so much oxygen,” said Keir Murray, a Democratic political strategist.
A recent poll by Research 2000 paid for by liberal groups found 33 percent of Democrats said they would be less likely to vote in 2010 if Congress drops the idea of a government-run insurance plan from the party’s health care bill. There is no government plan in the Senate version, while the House bill is structured around such a proposal.
The Democratic Party is defending control of Congress in November in a tough election year already beset by economic woes and joblessness. Republicans are already projected to make substantial gains. A divide on the Left could suppress Democratic turnout, worsening losses.
“There’s no question Obama is going to have some ground to make up with the base, but it will be easier for him to get them back on board than it would be for him to reclaim the independents and others who have just left,” Murray said.
The intraparty bickering has played out in an unusually public fashion. Last week, White House senior adviser David Axelrod went on MSNBC and said former Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean’s opposition to the bill was “predicated on a bunch of erroneous conclusions.”
Dean followed up with a spot on CNBC, saying, “this is not about personalities.”
“I don’t like the bill; the Republicans don’t like the bill,” Dean said. “I want health care reform, but this health care reform is wonderful for the insurance industry.”
Soon after, the liberal group MoveOn.org began circulating a petition urging Democratic senators to block the health care bill.
Since taking office, Obama has repeatedly disappointed the expectations of various Democratic special interests, sidestepping or slow-walking issues like gays in the military, carbon emissions, immigration and more.
At the White House, press secretary Robert Gibbs scoffed at suggestions that Obama is once again taking his political base for granted.
“I’ve never heard the president say, ‘Oh … I don’t have to worry about that, because these people are going to be with me,'” Gibbs said.
A recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found one-third of voters 34 and under, the group that helped Obama win the White House, said they feel negative toward the Democratic Party.
Among Hispanics, 38 percent said they feel positive about the Democratic Party, down from 60 percent in February.
In addition to trouble among key constituencies, the NBC/WSJ poll underscores doubts about Obama’s leadership of the party. Only 35 percent said they have a positive view of the Democratic Party, while 45 percent said they have a negative view.
