Posted by
Patrick Henry on Wednesday, August 25, 2010 10:09:59 PM
With just 79 days left until the midterms, strategies have been plotted and the
combatants have marched off to political war. This time, Democratic and GOP
strategies agree on one truism: this election is all about connections.
Polls regarding Barack Obama and his agenda clearly reveal a powerful ground-
swell of voter rejection and anger. Included under that umbrella are the hated
healthcare reform, proposed climate change legislation, union power grabs, amnesty
for illegal aliens and the two underlings who carried Obama's water, House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leadr Harry Reid. This makes Republican
strategy both clear and simple. If they can successfully tie their opponents to any
or all of the things Americans have rejected, they will defeat their Democratic
opponent in November.
The connection, of course, is how that opponent voted or commented on these
matters, and how far they toed Pelosi's and Reid's line. Democrats are trying
desperately to distance themselves from Obama, Pelosi and Reid, with some
shying away from campaign appearances with the president and others taking out
ads slamming Pelosi's agenda. The Republican antidote for such denial is a
straighforward question. But how did you vote?
Democrats, on the other hand, are pursuing a strategy of disconnection. Talking
points issued by Democratic leaders caution candidates against running on the
healthcare legislation, the stimulus bill or the "economic recovery" which isn't.
Instead, they are to say to voters, "But this election isn't really about Barack
Obama. It's about YOU. And I am here for YOU." This, of course, is a prime
form of verbal flatulence, for it is the voters who are being negatively affected
by unemployment, rising taxes, expensive healthcare, the specter of higher
gas prices and utility bills and no hope in sight. In other words, they perceive
themselves, in large numbers, to have been injured by Obama's policies, and
Dems' votes to support those policies are matters of public record. It's a very
tough sell, but it's their only hope.
All of this points to one conclusion. This election is, like most first-term
midterms, a direct referendum on the president and his policies. If people vote
the way they're telling pollsters they feel about Obama and his agenda, the
Democrats are in deep, deep trouble, and stand to take a historic November
whipping.
But it will all be determined by whether Democrats are able to use familiarity,
name recognition, money, union support and machine politics to weaken or
break the connecting link between themselves and the state thinngs are in, or
whether Republicans can hold their feet to the fire of fact and keep the connection
strong.