Both MyDD and Left Coaster note the convergence of Newsweek and Pew on the current "Congressional advantage" in polling--the Democratic Party holds a 12-point 'lead.' Soto is somewhat pumped for what he thinks they portend, or at least the vivid opportunities for taking power that now exist. Although I certainly agree with both the optimism and the cause for it, Bowers I think gets a little closer to the point, particularly with regards to Pew. Everyone on the left is completely ready to vote in Thursday's roast beef as President tomorrow, if you accept the 97% Congressional loyalty rating of Democrats as indicative of their mood.
But the people who are actually leading the Democratic party are not benefitting from that generality. Their disapproval ratings are just as strong as the Republicans'--but for entirely different reasons. The GOP is screwing the country and moving it in the wrong direction, and the Democrats are either not stopping them or are helping them along, hoping to be seen as bipartisan.
The Bush administration has bungled things in ways unimaginable in November 2000, yet 3/4 of their supporters are so vested in that failure that they refuse to cut loose. The Democratic Party, who as the minority is generally powerless but in this Congress is near-impotent, has had little substantive effect on American policy the last five years and thus ought to be spared direct blame--yet their leaders can't even get majority support from their own backers. Look at the ideological assessment of leadership's ability to stand for traditional principle: 35%. Which means a good 60% of the left is scratching their heads at the DLC types thinking, "WTF?" When is someone going to read a fucking poll and open their mouths, and start responding to the call for action? Respondents in polls--even Republican respondents--are saying the Democrats need to start being the slightest bit vigorous in their opposition, and they are being given a not so subtle hint to get on the job. But like the prospect of a dew-soaked loafer blocking the serendipitous pluck of a handful of four-leaf clover, Congressional Democrats are eyeing their manifest electoral luck with a most curious jaundice.
--TJ
Every time the Dems pipe up..they get blasted so hard from the punditry (and then from the cowards within their own party) that they are reduced to a sniveling mass of gelatinous goo.
Look at what happened to Durbin. His relatively mild, yet dead on, assessment of prisoner abuse was met with such vitriolic screaming that the even Daley in Chicago stabbed him in the back. It was ridiculous.
Until and unless the Dems can get some backup from within and without..it's going to be tough to expect them to stand up as a whole. You'll get the occasional spine..but often from those who have little or nothing to lose by saying something. Like Bill Clinton over the weekend.
Posted by: carla | September 19, 2005 at 11:05