|
Democrats revive 'Party of No' attack
Democrats are retooling and reprising their "Party of No" attack on Republicans in Congress after they unanimously rejected financial reform and health care bills in votes this month. But already, analysts are questioning whether charges of GOP obstructionism will be enough to keep voters from taking out their angst over the economy on Democrats next fall.
"Remember? We said it can't happen again. But did you know Congressman [Mario] Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) voted to let Wall Street continue the same risky practices that crippled retirement accounts and cost taxpayers $700 billion, including unchecked bonuses and salaries for executives?" says the call, which was first reported by the Miami Herald. "Maybe the $81,204 he got from financial special interests mattered more than taxpayers." The recorded messages come on the heels of 60-second radio ads the DCCC rolled out in five districts in California, Nebraska and Pennsylvania highlighting the same Dec. 11 vote in which no Republican backed the regulation package. The salvos come as other Democrats say they plan to paint Republicans as obstructionist for their down-the-line opposition to Senate health care legislation Thursday. "History will judge harshly those who have chosen the simple path of obstruction over the hard work of making change. It always does," said Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), an architect on the Senate financial reform bill. "I think it's a good argument for the Democrats. I just don't think it will work," said Stu Rothenberg of the non-partisan Rothenberg Political Report. "It is a good message if the fundamentals change. ...The problem is, if the economy is not in good shape and people still don't feel [a recovery], it's going to be about Obama and about the Democrats. With Democrats controlling everything, and how active the administration has been on all these fronts, I just don't think the Democrats are going to make it about the Republicans." Republican lawmakers insist they're not worried about being slapped with a do-nothing label. "Nobody's been an obstructionist. All we wanted to do was participate in the process," Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said on CNN during a back-and-forth over the health care bill. "I think [Democrats] deserve some credit for getting it done, as bad as it is. But it's going to wreck our country, I have to tell you. And people out there know that." A spokesman for the DCCC, Ryan Rudominer, said his committee's message is not so much about Republican inertia as about the GOP siding with the very banks and financial institutions that many Americans blame for tanking the economy last fall. Posted by: Slerens Elmolugum9047 2009-12-28 |
|
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=286602 |