May 23rd, 2010

Obama campaigning against Bush--again

Posted by: Barry Secrest
Published on May 23rd, 2010 @ 09:19:42 am , using 909 words

Posted in Events and Issues: Credible Resources

Politico

Carol E. Lee

President Barack Obama is trying to ride the wave of anti-incumbency by taking on an unpopular politician steeped in the partisan ways of Washington.

It doesn’t matter that George W. Bush left office 16 months ago.

The White House’s mid-term election strategy is becoming clear – pit the Democrats of 2010 against the Republicans circa 2006, 2008 and 2009, including Bush.

It’s a lot to ask an angry, finicky electorate to sort out. And even if Obama can rightfully make the case that the economy took a turn for the worse under Bush's watch, he's already made it - in 2008 and repeatedly in 2009.

It’s not clear that voters still want to hear it.

“If you’re the leader of a large corporation and you’re in power for a year and a half and you start off a meeting with your shareholders by blaming your predecessor, that wouldn’t go over very well,” said Merle Black, a political science professor at Emory University. “This is a very weak approach. ... And I can’t imagine it having an impact on these very swing voters.”

Some Democrats would like Obama to shift his argument.

“The president needs to indict not simply Bush or even Republicans. He is a visionary thinker, and his rhetoric should reflect that,” said Democratic strategist Paul Begala. “I want President Obama to make a consistent, compelling indictment of conservative ideas.”

The first glimmers of Obama's 2010 message came in New York last week where he rallied the party faithful with a charge that Republicans drove the economy into a ditch, obstructed Democrats’ efforts to pull it out and now want back the keys. “Sounds like he wants to run against George Bush one more time, doesn't it?” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell quipped when shown the clip on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Obama cranked up his indictment of the GOP in Ohio this week, criticizing “the ‘just say no’ crowd” and the Republicans’ “selective memory” of the economy in January 2009.

The message is layered. A shot at Bush (without mentioning his name.) A jab at congressional Republicans (although rarely saying “Republicans.”) A defense of the actions he’s taken so far.

It’s a striking approach for a president who often talks of looking forward not backward. But Obama’s aides believe that explaining how the economic crisis occurred and what happened since is a fair argument to make and an important contrast to draw.

“I don’t necessarily think of it as blame,” said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.

“The backdrop [of Obama’s message] is certainly how we got into this mess, but I think as much as anything it’s to remind people of the decisions that had to be made in January and February [2009] to get the economy back on track, and where people were on those decisions,” Gibbs said. “There’s no question we’re heading into a season where there’s going to be a more sharpened debate on what was done to fix the economy, and this is the president’s opening argument in that debate.”

Obama’s critique of Bush isn’t limited to the economy. His administration engaged in it after a breakdown in the terror watch list system was faulted for the attempted Christmas Day airline bombing. Obama also criticized current laws “riddled with loopholes” after the coal mining disaster in West Virginia. Sometimes he doesn’t have such a clear shot, such as when he said the federal government – including his own – was partly responsible for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

If Obama wants to run against the Bush record again, Republicans welcome that debate.

They argue that Democrats have been in charge in Congress for four years, and the White House going on two. And with unemployment still nearing double-digits despite billions being added to the deficit, the GOP thinks Obama will have a tough time making his case.

“First of all I think that his attempt to try to blame 10 percent unemployment on the past administration will be viewed as a – I was trying to think of some other word other than a joke, but – I just don’t think people buy it,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee

“At some point after you’ve been president for a while, knowing you have the substantial majorities in the House and the Senate, people are going to say, ‘You know what? This is your responsibility.’ And I think we’ve arrived at that point.”

Polls show most Americans still believe Bush is responsible for problems with the economy – 75 percent according to a Gallup survey released last month. But Obama is starting to get more of the blame. The Gallup poll found that 50 percent of Americans fault Obama for the country’s economic problems, up from 32 percent in the same survey last July.

Still, Obama’s aides feel the polls justify the president’s argument. And congressional Democrats have urged him to be more forceful about taking on the Republicans.

“It’s not a backward-looking argument,” said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “In this election we’re making the point that if you give control of the Congress back to the Republicans they’re going to do what they did before all over again. ... And if you look at the Republican economic agenda, it is George Bush policies on steroids.”