California Conservative

Democratic strategists are so worried about Sen. Obama being a drag downticket that they’ve started planning for that contingency. Here’s what an anonymous fundraiser said about that problem:

“If people are voting for McCain, it could help Republicans all the way down the ticket, even in a year when the Democrats should be sweeping all before us,” said the fundraiser, a former Hillary Clinton supporter. “There is a growing sense of doom among Democrats I have spoken to . . . People are going crazy, telling the campaign ‘you’ve got to do something’.”

This quote tells me several things, starting with the fact that this is proof that Washington insiders shouldn’t run campaigns. Washington insiders, by nature, are defeatists. Defeatists are easily rolled. They’re often panicky.

Second, that quote tells me that the Democrats aren’t anchored to something solid that they can turn to when they’re experiencing a rough patch. When Sen. Obama’s ‘friends’ told him he can’t get swiftboated, he started taking ill-advised shots at Gov. Palin, something that’s backfired badly on him.

When his plans backfired, Obama’s advisers didn’t have something to fall back on. When Bill Clinton campaigned in 1992, anytime he got in trouble, he’d return to his ‘I’m going to focus on the economy like a laser beam’ position. Soon things stabilized. Sen. Obama doesn’t have that issue that he can return to and stabilize. BTW, Hope and change aren’t issues, they’re themes.

Tony Podesta, a senior Democratic lobbyist, said members of Congress were “a little nervous” after Mr McCain shook up the race with his choice of Sarah Palin as running mate and intensified attacks on Mr Obama. “Republicans have been on the offensive for the past two weeks . . . You don’t win elections on the defensive.”

That you don’t, Tony. You dodn’t win elections when you’re flailing, either, which is what Sen. Obama is doing right now. Democrats likely will face a decision about whether to be seen wih Sen. Obama in states like Georgia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana.

House Democrats likely face another decision, namely should they run away from Speaker Pelosi. People remember her memo telling her vulnerables to say whatever they needed to say:

But what looks like intraparty tension on the surface is part of an intentional strategy in which Pelosi takes the heat on energy policy, while behind the scenes she’s encouraging vulnerable Democrats to express their independence if it helps them politically, according to Democratic aides on and off Capitol Hill.

The NRCC would be wise to put out ads asking whether vulnerables would talk a good game on drilling but stop short of abandoning Ms. Pelosi. There’s signs that they might actually abandon Ms. Pelosi. If that happens, expect panic to kick into a higher gear.

The closer you get to an election, the more scrutiny each event gets. Any sign of weakness gets notice and the chance for overreactions increases. Whatever the case, this could be a fun last 50+ days.

Technorati Tags: Campaigns, Barack Obama, Fundraising, Political Strategists, Gas Crisis, Drilling, Nancy Pelosi, House Races, Election 2008

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 13th, 2008 at 8:23 am and is filed under Author: Gary Gross, Economy, Election 2008, Energy, McCain, Obama, Pelosi. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.