http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/15/AR2010071504593.html?hpid=opinionsbox1Of course Republican Charles Krauthammer is saying this in part because he wants it to happen. (Excluding his prediction that Obama will tackle energy in his second term, which Krauthammer probably doesn't want.) But with White House Press Secretary Gibbs also saying Democrats will lose the House, the danger becomes more credible. Krauthammer in the above-linked article says that with the loss of the House Obama will benefit like Clinton did when HE lost Capitol Hill, by making the Republicans the new menace going into the 2012 election like Clinton used Gingrich as the menace. Naturally, Krauthammer is saying that Obama should not be underestimated by the right wing. And one problem with his logic is that if the Goopers take over Capitol Hill there will be no energy agenda, not in the second half of Obama's first term nor in his second term and Democrats won't get the Hill back. Rather, if the GOP takes over the Hill in the Fall there will be another round of impeachment hearings. Washington will again turn into a zoo and nothing will get done while the ecosystem goes to hell. And it will be back to drill baby drill. Presently, only MSNBC does liberal programming, and only in the evening, their morning shows are right wing. The rest of the media is even worse. Presently only 13% of the public think the Gulf oil spill is the biggest issue even though it is destroying the lower half of the United States and much else. That's because nearly the whole media are right wing and presenting a Fantasy Island version of everything. Consequently, the public hasn't a clue what's really going on and are screeching about taxes when in fact Obama LOWERED taxes. Yet, as long as Democrats refuse to shout and scream like the other side, instead blathering on about how "we're not going to sink to their level," we face a very serious problem in the Fall.
Many Democrats will have rosy expectations for the Fall, Goopers will predict victory for themselves, but the real measure is that only the committed show up to vote in midterm elections without the galvanizing inspiration of a presidential race. This is the problem with the DLCers. They offer no inspiration while the right wingers with their fanaticism offer an impetus for Republicans to vote. THEY RILE PEOPLE UP AND WE DON'T. The DLC fails to inspire, therefore, Democrats will stay home. Therefore the GOP is in danger of taking over in the Fall. Add to this the use of hacked electronic voting machines to skim off a few extra votes or more and we are in a serious situation. People don't want to hear someone sound alarmist. But this situation is not great. Democrats have two ways to win in the Fall. Ditch the DLC in favor of inspiring liberal positions (that's one) and two, go savagely negative against the GOP and demonize them the way they have been demonizing us. There is presently very little evidence that we are doing either.
Another thing that won't happen is a return to the 50-state strategy and a return to party leadership of Howard Dean. The current DNC head is a total wimp but for some inexplicable reason there is no call to bring Dean back.
Sorry I used a Krauthammer piece as the lead-in to these comments of mine. But one thing is notable: Krauthammer is here talking about the loss of the House as a DANGER to the GOP. If a Republican is already talking as if their gain of the House is such a foregone conclusion that he has to come up with yet a new bogeyman, namely that loss of the House will play into Obama's hands, then we are already very far into the looking glass. And yet I do not see Democrats fighting and too many of them still can't come up with anything other than apologizing for being progressive and they are mostly mainly showing what goody little two shoes moderate little boys and girls they are, WHICH DOES NOT SELL IN A MIDTERM ELECTION.
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