Tuesday opinion.
Bob Herbert:
Mr. Obama, who usually goes out of his way to avoid overtly racial comments and appeals, made an impassioned plea during a fiery speech Saturday night at a black-tie event sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus. "I need everybody here," he said, "to go back to your neighborhoods, to go back your workplaces, to go to the churches and go to the barbershops and go to the beauty shops. And tell them we’ve got more work to do."
It’s no secret that the president is in trouble politically, and that Democrats in Congress are fighting desperately to hold on to their majorities. But much less attention has been given to the level of disenchantment among black voters, who have been hammered disproportionately by the recession and largely taken for granted by the Democratic Party. That disenchantment is likely to translate into lower turnout among blacks this fall.
Roger Cohen:
Democracies seemed blocked, as in Belgium, or corrupted, as in Israel, or parodies, as in Italy, or paralyzed, as in the Netherlands.
There were exceptions, particularly the heady mass movement that brought Barack Obama to power in 2008. But Obama soon found himself caught in the gridlock of the very partisan shrieking he had vowed to overcome. Less than halfway through his presidency the prospect of legislative paralysis looked overwhelming. The world’s most powerful democracy, its promise so recently renewed, seemed mired once more in its frustrations and divisions.
So what? So what if money trumped democracy and stability trumped open societies for hundreds of millions of people? So what if the rule of law or individual freedom was compromised, the press muzzled, and media-controlling presidents thought they could use "democracy" to rule for life with occasional four-year breaks.
So what if people no longer thought their vote would change anything because politics was for sale? Perhaps liberal democracy, along with its Western cradle, had passed its zenith.
Wrong. It’s important to stanch the anti-democratic tide. Thugs and oppression ride on it.
Michael Gerson:
While it is great, tempting fun to write about Tea Party excess -- when, since Cotton Mather was young, has witchcraft been so relevant to the national debate? -- the real political story lies elsewhere.
The last few weeks have seen Democratic problems solidify across the country, in ways the Not-So-Great Communicator has been powerless to prevent. The bottom is dropping out of polls for Democratic candidates in states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio, where battlegrounds threaten to become routs. Senate races in bluish places from Wisconsin to Connecticut to West Virginia are suddenly within Republican reach. Once-shining Democratic Senate prospects such as Brad Ellsworth in Indiana have gone dark on television as party money has fled to more realistic races.
Gerson's right this this is more important than the tea party. But he and Portman are wrong to attribute it to health reform (that's a message for credulous reporters.) It's jobs and the economy, just like everywhere else.
NY Times:
Republicans are serious. Hopeful of picking up substantial numbers of seats in the Congressional elections, they are developing plans to try to repeal or roll back President Obama’s new health care law.
That's what Gerson's up to. Bolster the agenda.
WaPo:
As lawmakers bicker over whether to extend the Bush-era tax cuts, not just for the middle class but also for the wealthy, many economists and budget analysts say there's a simple way to curb borrowing: Let the tax cuts expire for everyone.
Economists don't run for office.
Brent Budowsky:
The 2010 elections are in the ninth inning. There are two outs. The Democrats are down by two runs. There are two runners on base. The Babe is stepping to the plate, wielding the big bat, ready to take the big swing.
Can Bill Clinton can save the Democratic House of Representatives? If he goes full force, and there are signs that he may, my answer is: You betcha.