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Tuesday, October 28, 2014

2014: JUST A MINOR SETBACK FOR DEMOCRATS, OR SOMETHING MORE SERIOUS???


Something that I’m sure is a work of pure political propaganda or something that might have some degree of truth to it, is the fact that we’re now being told that Democrats are said to deeply concerned about their political future, at least as far as the House is concerned. We’re told that they fear they are on the verge of suffering losses in these midterm House elections that may take them years for the party to recover from. Granted, I am far from being an expert on such things, but frankly, I just don’t see it.

With Republicans spending a ton of cash in congressional races that were once comfortably liberal, there’s a growing fear that not only will the GOP expand its 17-seat majority in the House next week, but Democrats will not win it back in 2016. And with that, Democrats are said to be caught suffering from a financial conundrum, whereby they have to stop pumping money into districts they were hoping to win and put it toward preventing those once considered as safe to prevent them from being captured by the GOP.

In recent days, Barry’s popularity continuing to wane even among party faithful, the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee has poured cash into races in Hawaii and Nevada, states which turned sharply left in 2012. Emily Bittner, spokesmoron for the DCCC has said, "There’s no question it’s a tough climate for Democrats right now but it certainly doesn’t come as a surprise." Emily goes on to say, "Heading into the final week of the election every single Democratic incumbent is still competitive, which is drastically different from the situation in 2010."

One example of the situation the Democrats now find themselves in, is the fact that there has been increasing concerns about California Rep. Lois Capps, an eight-term congresswoman who previously has had very little trouble during re-elections. She’s now fighting for her political future in a close contest with perennial Republican candidate Chris Mitchum, son of the actor Robert Mitchum, and the DCCC has had to step in to help Capps by spending $99,000 on radio ads in the Santa Barbara area promoting her.

The committee’s chairman, Steve Israel of New York, is, apparently, also fretting over the fate of Rep. Dave Loebsack. Mr. Loebsack happens to be a fourth-term Iowa incumbent Democrat who has recently been on the receiving end of a series of some rather potent campaign ads from various Republican groups. Israel was so worried about the seat that he recently organized a fundraiser on Loebsack’s behalf just days ahead of the Nov. 4 elections. But it has yet to be determined whether it’ll make a difference or if it’s too little too late.

Nancy Pelosi, together with Israel, were to hold a conference call with members just today to outline the problems Democrats are facing in the final run-up to the elections, while also calling for, make that begging for, more donations. There have been several reports that strategists from both parties expect Democrats to lose between five and 10 seats, and that out of the 30 House races that are now seen as being most likely to change hands, 23 are held by Democrats. So things are looking a bit dicey for at least the House Democrats.

Democrat operatives say that Barry’s policies and unpopularity are hurting candidates across the board. For instance, in West Virginia and downstate Illinois, Rep. Nick Rahall and Rep. Bill Enyart are seeing their election chances slip away as the GOP ties them to their boss. Republicans are also targeting districts that have been long been considered liberal strongholds, such as in Hawaii and eastern Iowa, which has received an injection of cash from American Action Network, a conservative group with links to House Speaker John Boehner.

The DCCC has, in fact, now stopped the flow of money to races in both Colorado and Virginia and has essentially been forced to start running TV ads in two eastern Iowa districts, both of which Barry won in 2012. Speaker Boehner has recently campaigned in Iowa for GOP hopefuls Rod Blum, a software company owner, and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, an ophthalmologist. Boehner’s spokesman Cory Fritz, said, "All year, the speaker has been emphasizing the importance of making the most of every opportunity."

While things may, at least appear, to be pretty dire for the Democrats at the present time, what I see as taking place in this election is really nothing more than what is likely to be a minor set back for the Democrats. Because it’s pretty clear that more and more people are becoming addicted to government while fewer and fewer are called upon to pay taxes. In 2016 when Hitery Clinton runs, all those who are now so concerned about the failing popularity of Barry, will be thrilled with the popularity if Hitlery. And all will be right in their world, again.

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