Mitch McConnell, who is acting as though he's the new Senate majority leader even though he's not and even though he has a nasty leadership battle with Jim DeMint brewing, promises to make all our lives a living hell for the next two years. It's going to be all health reform repeal, all the time. (Maybe he thinks by promising this he can stave off DeMint. Good luck with that.)
For the next two years, while Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell tries to make Barack Obama a one-term president, he and his counterparts in the House will force repeated votes on repealing and starving the White House's signature accomplishments....
"Over the past week, some have said it was indelicate of me to suggest that our top political priority over the next two years should be to deny President Obama a second term in office," McConnell will say. "But the fact is, if our primary legislative goals are to repeal and replace the health spending bill; to end the bailouts; cut spending; and shrink the size and scope of government, the only way to do all these things is to put someone in the White House who won't veto any of these things."
Dems are pushing back, issuing a memo that argues health reform had very little to do with how the election played out, and the GOP has no mandate on that basis to kill it. Greg Sargent has the details.
[T]he DNC is out with a new memo arguing that health reform was not a significant factor in Dem losses:
* Among those Democrats who faced competitive races, those who voted for the reforms fared significantly better than those who voted against it.
* Among the 93 competitive races that have been called, 67 featured Democrats who voted for reform and 25 featured Democrats who voted against reform.
* 35 Democrats who voted for reform won re-election, while 32 did not, for a win percentage of 52%.
* 8 Democrats who voted against reform won re-election, while 16 did not, for a win percentage of 33%.
* Also, among Democratic Senators facing re-election, only 2 of the 12 who voted for reform were defeated, Blanche Lincoln and Russ Feingold.
Though the memo seems backward looking, in that it's reinterpreting the results of the elections, the real goal is a forward looking one: Dems are pre-emptively trying to persuade opinion-makers, columnists and cable talkers not to play along if and when the Republicans take up repeal in earnest and begin making a public case that they have a mandate to proceed with it.
In some ways, allowing the GOP to make the next two years all about dismantling government when the election was actually about the shitty economy and the national frustration with an inadequate response to the crisis could be good strategy. That is, if the White House and Senate majority actually counter that by fighting for policies that will make people's lives better. They don't have to win. They won't win. They win by making the fight about what they want to do to help people, while the GOP is off obsessing over a legislative battle they already lost once.
