This weekend’s hymn appears to be “Democrats in Trouble.” Follow along with Jonathan Martin and Ashley Parker of the New York Times:
Appearing in the chorus:
The president is still a good fund-raiser for Democrats. But while the Koch brothers are pounding the party’s Senate candidates and a few House candidates around the country, congressional Democrats are wondering when Obama’s vaunted powerhouse national advocacy network, Organizing for Action, will finally step in with some money to offset the wave of outside spending by the Republicans.
Most of the doom is attributed to the damage done to the party’s brand by Obamacare’s troubles and (all together now) those horrible Koch brothers and all of their money. There is talk of going for turnout and scaring voters with stuff about how the Republicans are coming for their Medicare and Social Security. And surely this will happen, along with warnings of wars on women, the young, and the climate.
More interesting, perhaps, is what is not mentioned. Namely, the economy. As another Times reporter noted, earlier this week, some 57% of Americans believe the country is still in a recession. One doesn’t want to go too far out on a limb here, but might that not incline a lot of voters to think it is time for a change. Been six years and, still, things don’t seem to be getting much better.
With a robustly growing economy, even Obamacare (whatever it is, this week) might seem affordable.
