Or maybe it’s the price of deception.
According to a new Daily Kos poll, the Democrats are still ahead in generic polling. The problem is that very few of them intend to show up at the polls in November, as compared to Republicans and Independents, both of whom intend to show up in droves.
This is what happens when you run on a campaign of “hope” and then dash those hopes at every opportunity. If there’s a Democratic constituency Obama has not disappointed, I’m not aware of it. Add to that the milquetoast Harry Reid (“It takes 60 votes to pass anything in the Senate” and I don’t intend to make it difficult for the obstructionists) and a party that’s still in a defensive crouch from it’s wilderness years (you can count the number of Senators who are unabashed supporters of their own party’s platform on one hand), and it’s no wonder that Democrats are planning to sit next year out. In what other way can they express their displeasure?
Besides being incapable of delivering for their own, the Democrats are incapable of framing the debate. Whenever someone actually comes up with a way of making the Republicans look bad, someone steps up to make sure it doesn’t happen:
On the eve of the President announcing his war strategy in Afghanistan, critics of the policy have used the cost as a primary reason for their opposition. They could have used the argument that our presence in Afghanistan does nothing for our national security, fuels the insurgency and props up a corrupt government that inflames the local population, leading to no good outcomes whatsoever, but they went with cost. And David Obey put together a plan in the House to pay for the war through a graduated tax, the argument being that sacrifice must be shared and those cheerleading for more war should at least contribute something to it.
This has touched off a major debate inside the Republican Party, forking them between the war fever and the anti-tax fervor of their base. This was in full display on the Sunday morning shows, with Republicans from various wings of the party clashing over the concept of a war surtax. Richard Lugar (R-IN) called it a worthwhile notion on CNN, while Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on ABC called for cuts in domestic spending to pay for the war, the expected position for proponents of limited government and unlimited war.
But then there’s this:
The chairman of the Armed Services Committee backed off his support for a war tax today, saying the state of the economy prevents any tax increases.
“Well in the middle of a recession we’re probably not going to be able to increase taxes,” [Carl] Levin told CBS’s Face the Nation.
Levin still supports the idea of a surtax, but says it “should have happened some time ago.”
Good dog, Carl. Nothing like combining bad public policy with a tin ear for politics. How did these people get elected in the first place?
Only the Democrats could deliver this country into the hands of a right wing rump minority. If they do lose big time next November, the conventional wisdom will be that the country has turned to the right-the low turnout will be ignored. If these findings hold up, by the way, Chris Dodd can kiss his Senate seat good-bye.
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