This is shaping up to be one of the most cynical election campaign seasons in recent memory – and since campaigns tend to be pretty cynical anyway, that is really saying something.
Consider this: Normally, a member of Congress who is seeking re-election will play up his legislative accomplishments as proof that he ought to be returned to office.
But this year, Democrats have come up with a plan – in direct cooperation with the Obama administration – to downplay their big legislative “wins” since the 2008 election.
“Democratic candidates all but ignore their legislative successes,” read the headline on an article from Tribune newspapers’ Washington bureau.
The story said Democrats are “surprisingly quiet about their hard-won accomplishments – the major bills they have passed under President Obama.
“In an effort coordinated with the White House, congressional leaders are urging Democrats to focus less on bragging about what they have done – a landmark healthcare law, a sweeping overhaul of Wall Street regulation and other far-reaching policy changes – and more on efforts to fix the economy and on the perils of Republican control of Congress.”
That is a remarkable campaign strategy, because it seems to admit that what Democrats consider “successes” – such as ObamaCare socialized medicine and the counterproductive $862 billion “stimulus” – the American people consider big steps backward.
Survey after survey bears that out: ObamaCare remains extremely unpopular, and most Americans correctly believe that the stimulus has been a horrible waste of tax dollars.
As the Tribune article noted, “Democratic strategists privately acknowledge that their party’s legislative record, while far-reaching and popular with party regulars, has limited political benefit in swing districts and in a stubbornly sluggish economy.”
Or perhaps those “strategists” and voters alike realize that the “far-reaching” laws enacted by Democrats – which have caused government to grow out of control – are part of the reason for the “stubbornly sluggish economy.”
It is simply irrational to tax so many dollars out of the economy, threaten to raise taxes even higher, and borrow trillions more dollars beyond high tax rates – and then to expect economic growth and job creation.
It is not surprising that Democrats are “ignoring” their so-called legislative “successes” on the campaign trail. They know that most Americans do not consider those “successes” very “successful” for our country.