First, a disclaimer: every Democratic member of Congress is absolutely committed to helping the U.S. economy recover and wishes that the down turn hadn’t happened.
That said, the economic crisis couldn’t have come at a better time as far as a lot of Democrats are concerned. Last week Dems were wringing their hands over the Obama campaign’s handling of Palin, why he was losing ground in the polls, that he hasn’t been tough enough on McCain. This week, amidst the collapse of Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch, with the Dow down more than 500 points and AIG teetering on the brink of a government bailout, Dems practically do a double-take when asked about those worries. Palin, who?
I spent yesterday on Capitol Hill chatting with some Senate Democrats about the presidential race. Almost universally when asked about concerns about Obama dropping the ball, on and off the record, members chided me for being oh-so-last-week.
Last week “was all 24-hour news cycle and things are getting back to where they need to be and that is what’s happening to real families and what’s happening in terms of jobs and the economy right now,” said Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow. “And the more people emphasize that the more people will be for Barack Obama particularly now, given everything that’s happened.”
“People have their concerns, people do things and say things. But the campaign is beginning now,” said Senator Dianne Feinstein of California. “And the issue is the economy and the only change is Obama. McCain has supported everything the administration has done with respect to the economy.”
“You know, parts of the national media get all caught up in nonsense. What matters here is we have a fiscal crisis,” says North Dakota Senator Kent Conrad, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. “We have a housing crisis, we have an energy crisis, we have a healthcare crisis and thinking that some how the people who are the architects of these crises are some how going to change things.”
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Start* Stop whining and start winning is my motto,” said Senator Barbara Mikulski, a Maryland Democrat. “Some of the professional Democrats like to fret. I think Senator Obama’s on track, he has the message on his side: we’re talking about change that makes a difference, we’re claiming the ground of being in the spirit of reform while McCain is talking about rehashing the issues, particularly on the economy.”
While there may be some lingering white knuckles inside the Beltway, most Democratic fears have been assuaged by the abrupt and powerful re-emergence of their strongest issue. McCain had been gaining in the polls on his handling of the economy, but his own missteps this week have further helped Obama. So, while of course all Democrats hope and pray for the economy to recover and work on legislation to do just that, they maybe don’t mind so much Wall Street’s timing.
[*Apologies, transcription typo]