Posted on 09/25/2002 8:06:10 AM PDT by areafiftyone
WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrats plan to remind voters about the faltering economy in the remaining weeks before the Nov. 5 elections, though those efforts may get overshadowed by the Bush administration's continuous talk of war.
As stock markets drop and consumer anxieties rise, Democrats are enlisting party leaders, scheduling events on the economy and highlighting a long list of negative economic news.
"It's difficult to get through the noise on Iraq," said Democratic spokeswoman Maria Cardona. "But these economic issues do command attention outside of the (Washington) Beltway, where it really matters."
House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt delivered a 30-minute speech Tuesday about economic and domestic problems he said are being neglected while people debate the war and Republicans push for more tax cuts.
"Since January 2001, our economy has deteriorated dramatically," Gephardt said in the speech before a sparsely occupied House chamber and C-SPAN TV. "We've seen the most anemic period of economic growth since Eisenhower was president."
Gephardt said 2 million people have lost jobs and the stock market has lost trillions of dollars in value.
Republican lawmakers, he said, have refused to act on pressing issues — from the nation's economic woes to the future of Social Security ( news - web sites) to the high cost of prescription drugs to corporate accountability.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert dismissed the speech as "raw partisanship."
President Bush ( news - web sites) got in a pitch for the economy on Tuesday.
"When you combine the productivity of the American people with low interest rates and low inflation, those are the ingredients for growth," he said. "But I understand we got a lot of work to do."
As Gephardt spoke about domestic problems that traditionally top voters' concerns, much of the talk in Washington and elsewhere remained about Iraq.
"We are at war and that seems to take precedence over the economy right now," said political scientist Merle Black of Emory University. "The president sets the tone of the country and he came out really firing on this. It seems like he's taken the initiative back."
Possible war with Iraq is now a more important election issue for voters than the economy by a 49-42 margin, according to a CNN-USA Today Gallup poll.
Democrats are working hard to make the economy the dominant issue.
"Today the Census Bureau ( news - web sites) announced that income is on the decline for the first time in four years and poverty is on the rise," Democratic national Chairman Terry McAuliffe said. "Meanwhile, consumer confidence fell for the fourth consecutive month in September."
Republicans note that a top economic adviser in the Clinton administration said recently that the economy was slipping before Democrats left the White House. Republican spokesman Jim Dyke said GOP proposals to help the economy are currently stuck in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said Tuesday: "Unless we're able to deal more effectively with the economy, it can become a bigger issue than anything else on the horizon."
During the week, Democratic members of Congress plan news conferences to talk about pension reform, unemployment insurance and corporate accountability.
Next week, they plan events both in Washington and around the country to highlight what has happened to Americans' 401(k) retirement accounts.
Republicans say the Democrats will have a tough time refocusing the political debate on the economy.
"The White House and the Republicans are driving the agenda," said GOP strategist Scott Reed. "The president is totally dominating the news, and the Congress is getting ready to go home in the next 20 days."
"It's an uphill struggle with Bush's control of the bully pulpit and the focus now on national security and Iraq," said political analyst Norm Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute. "Democrats will need some outside help such as an economy that shows deeper signs of distress or more signs of corporate scandal."
I tend to disagree with that -- I think it's hard to convince people that the economy is in bad shape when they are living so well. Though perhaps I am underestimating the stupidity of the American voter.
I've got lots of friends who live outside the U.S., and when I am asked to give an assessment of America I give the following description:
"The United States is the only place in the world where people will sit in traffic on the way to the shopping mall to buy a $3,000 television, then go home at night and complain about how bad the economy is, complain about all the crap they watch on TV, and complain about all those big trucks on the road delivering $3,000 televisions to the shopping malls."
I thought that historically, war was GOOD for our economy anyway.
Probably because they see the Democreeps making fools of themselves so why bother. They are digging their own grave.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.