Democrats giddy about chances in 2006

A message for the masses?
Yet before picking up these seats, Democrats have another obstacle in their path: their message. According to last month’s NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, just 11 percent of respondents said Democrats have a clear message for the future, while 18 percent said the same of Republicans. “The best thing we have going for us is the national Democrats,” says Brian Nick, a spokesman at the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

And perhaps no issue has seemed to divide Democrats more than Iraq, as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Rep. Jack Murtha, D-Pa., have advocated an immediate redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq, while Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., has backed Bush’s call to stay the course.

Democrats, though, used the conference in Orlando to dispel the perception that they don’t have a message. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., a rising Democratic star, told the audience on Saturday, “We are the party of Jefferson... We are the party of [Franklin] Roosevelt... We are the party of the New Frontier.” The night before, Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean, who has received criticism for stating that the United States won’t be able to win in Iraq, highlighted his party’s message: honesty and integrity in government, a strong national defense, American jobs staying in America, health care for everyone, and a strong public education system.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., who also was attending the conference, said in an interview that Americans know where the Democratic Party stands on the issues versus its GOP counterparts. “Poll after poll after poll is showing us to be way out ahead on every issue.”

Republicans & Democrats share obstacles
But Bernadette Budde, the senior vice president at BIPAC, a pro-business political group that mainly supports Republican candidates (also some Democrats), points out that Democrats have another challenge to overcome: The public is angry -- and not just at Republicans. Indeed, the November NBC/ Journal survey found that just 24 percent believe Republicans in Congress share their priorities, while 26 percent said Democrats do. “Anyone holding office and isn't doing their job ... can be thrown out of office,” Budde said at a press briefing last week. “We are thinking there could be a lot of surprises” in 2006.

Yet Hoyer believes the surprises will ultimately come at the GOP’s expense. “Are Democrats popular at this point? No, we’re not. But why? Because the Republicans have created in the consciousness of the American people such a disappointment in politics in general. But the fact is, the Republicans control the town.” He concluded, “The only way Americans are going to get change is to vote to change the leadership of the Congress.”

Rod Smith, a Democratic Florida state senator who’s running for governor next year, put it this way when he addressed the conference: “The Republicans have been doing their part to make sure we win. Let’s do our part.”

But what happens if Democrats don’t do their part? What happens if they fail to pick up a sizable number of seats -- despite all of the Republican Party’s current troubles? “Ask me a day after Election Day,” Hoyer replied.

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