E.J. Dionne: Dragging down the Democrats
There's the brand, and then there's the product. At the moment, the Democratic brand is pretty good while the Republican brand is badly scarred. But when it comes to product, Democrats still have a lot of development work to do. As they toil away, Republicans will be working just as hard to soil the Democratic name.
It's been clear for months that large majorities of Americans have given up on the Republicans. They've turned decisively against President Bush and, in principle, want him replaced in 2008 by a Democrat.
But there's a major gap between the desired outcome and the will to bring it about. The electorate is more pro-Democratic in theory than in practice. And Democratic congressional leaders will have a hellish time changing that, given their narrow margins of control and President Bush's possession of a veto pen.
Do not envy House Speaker Nancy Pelosi or Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid their supposed power. It would be easier to manage Bush's former baseball team, the Texas Rangers (26 wins, 43 losses as of this morning). Expectations for the Rangers are a lot lower.
Expectations are part of the Democrats' problem. Over the past month or so, congressional Democrats have hemorrhaged support from both ends of the electoral coalition that backed them last November. And both ends had high hopes.
Democrats won in 2006 because they mobilized their large and angry base in opposition to President Bush and the Iraq war -- and because they won over moderates and independents. These voters were frustrated by Bush's performance, unhappy with their economic circumstances and angry at the corruption in the last Republican Congress.
Managing this coalition was never going to be easy, and it hasn't been. Antiwar Democrats are upset that Congress can't simply end American engagement in Iraq and want Democrats to push their power to the limit.
Middle-of-the-road voters who backed the Democrats don't much like the war, but they also looked to the party of Reid and Pelosi to get things done on political reform, health care, energy, the environment and the economy. Yet the ways of Congress are slow, especially when Republicans have no interest in Democratic success and when President Bush -- with the exception of an immigration bill -- mostly opposes what Democrats would put on his desk. The Democrats can brag about a minimum wage increase. They also passed budget measures on time, a real achievement, but not one that most voters notice...
Read entire article at Washington Post
It's been clear for months that large majorities of Americans have given up on the Republicans. They've turned decisively against President Bush and, in principle, want him replaced in 2008 by a Democrat.
But there's a major gap between the desired outcome and the will to bring it about. The electorate is more pro-Democratic in theory than in practice. And Democratic congressional leaders will have a hellish time changing that, given their narrow margins of control and President Bush's possession of a veto pen.
Do not envy House Speaker Nancy Pelosi or Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid their supposed power. It would be easier to manage Bush's former baseball team, the Texas Rangers (26 wins, 43 losses as of this morning). Expectations for the Rangers are a lot lower.
Expectations are part of the Democrats' problem. Over the past month or so, congressional Democrats have hemorrhaged support from both ends of the electoral coalition that backed them last November. And both ends had high hopes.
Democrats won in 2006 because they mobilized their large and angry base in opposition to President Bush and the Iraq war -- and because they won over moderates and independents. These voters were frustrated by Bush's performance, unhappy with their economic circumstances and angry at the corruption in the last Republican Congress.
Managing this coalition was never going to be easy, and it hasn't been. Antiwar Democrats are upset that Congress can't simply end American engagement in Iraq and want Democrats to push their power to the limit.
Middle-of-the-road voters who backed the Democrats don't much like the war, but they also looked to the party of Reid and Pelosi to get things done on political reform, health care, energy, the environment and the economy. Yet the ways of Congress are slow, especially when Republicans have no interest in Democratic success and when President Bush -- with the exception of an immigration bill -- mostly opposes what Democrats would put on his desk. The Democrats can brag about a minimum wage increase. They also passed budget measures on time, a real achievement, but not one that most voters notice...