Feb 17 Keep Believing That

My first reaction after reading Steve Benen's post was "Keep believing what you're writing." Here's what I'm talking about:

For all the palpable anxiety in Democratic circles, there's still time. Sinking poll numbers are largely the result of inaction, Americans want to see results, and they're not getting any. If Dems run for the hills, matters will only get worse.

It isn't about the Democrats' tactics. It isn't about the Democrats' communications strategy. It's about their failed economic policies. It's about the damage that the Democrats' health care policies would've caused if they would've been implemented.

When I hear Democrats say that people only have a negative opinion of their health care legislation because they haven't correctly communicated the provisions in the bill, I question whether they watched the videos from August's townhall meetings, where informed citizen after informed citizen 'educated' their legislators.

I recall Claire McCaskill telling the audience that President Obama never endorsed a single-payer health care system. I loved it when someone from the audience hollared "It's on YouTube." It isn't that we don't know what's in these bills. It's that people like Betsy McCaughey, Keith Hennessey and King Banaian read the bills and published specific language from the bills on their websites.

We knew what was in the Democrats' health care bill. We rejected the tax increases, the individual mandates and the fines for not buying health insurance policies that the federal government approved.

Another thing that Democrats should do is keep sending President Obama into races where Democrats are currently in trouble:

President Obama kicks off what might be called his "Save the Senate" tour this week, heading west to campaign for two embattled Democrats trailing badly against Republican challengers, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

With high-profile Democrats already bailing out of re-election campaigns, Sen. Evan Bayh's decision on Monday to drop out of the race in Indiana brings the number of retirees to five, Mr. Obama is putting his popularity and fundraising prowess on the line as he tries to help his party hold the majority in the Senate.

If President Obama does for Barbara Boxer and Patty Murray what he did for Martha Coakley and Jon Corzine, we'll owe President Obama a big debt of gratitude for tying Democrats to his radical agenda.

Finally, I hope DNC Chair Tim Kaine told the truth when he said this:

"In the two governors races, and Massachusetts things didn't go our way," he said. "We know it's going to be a challenging and tough cycle. Historically it always is. But we're not panicked people. When a couple races don't go our way, we don't panic. If we would, we never would have won the White House in '08."

What a buffoon. Things didn't just not go their way in a couple of statewide races. They got manhandled in states that they've owned for years. Independent voters rejected their policies by margins of 2:1 and 3:1. They lost Virginia, a state President Obama carried by 8 points, by almost 20 points. They lost Ted Kennedy's seat by a healthy margin. In all 3 states, the swing from President Obama's margin of victory to this year's election was approaching 30 points.

Tim Kaine can act nonchalant all he wants but candidates are panicking. Byron Dorgan, Evan Bayh and Christopher Dodd didn't suddenly retire because they saw nothing but smooth sailing ahead. (No, I don't buy this weekend's polling that showed Bayh ahead by 15+ points. Rasmussen's polling showed him in a dogfight with John Hostettler and trailing Mike Pence. I'll trust Scott Rasmussen's polling. PERIOD.)

Unless President Obama abandons his radical agenda, Democrats will have to plenty to worry about. People want common sense leadership, not Alinsky-style radicalism.

Comments welcome at LFR.