In Losing the Midterms, There May Be Winning

[onehandle]

WASHINGTON — Let there be no mistake: President Obama wants the Democrats to win next week’s midterm elections. His voice has gone hoarse telling every audience that from Delaware to Oregon. But let’s also acknowledge this: Although he will not say so, there is at least a plausible argument that he might be better off if they lose.

The reality of presidential politics is that it helps to have an enemy. With Democrats controlling the White House and Congress, they shoulder responsibility for the country’s troubles. No amount of venting about George W. Bush or the filibuster rule has convinced the public otherwise. But if Republicans capture Congress, Mr. Obama will finally have a foil heading toward his own re-election battle in 2012.

“The best possible result for Obama politically is for the Republicans to gain control of both houses,” said Douglas E. Schoen, a Democratic pollster and strategist who helped President Bill Clinton recover from his own midterm Congressional defeat in 1994 to win re-election two years later. “That’s what Obama should want.”

Divided government, of course, is rarely pretty, and a Republican victory would mean the end of some of Mr. Obama’s most expansive ideas, at least for now. If Democrats were frustrated pushing through their initiatives the last two years, they might soon look back at 2009 and 2010 as the glory days.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/weekinreview/24baker.html

[itsrobert]

1. Just anohter news story to keep the Democrats from coming out

Thinking we are stupid, "Hey, it's good for Obama, if we don't win this time."

B A L O N E Y

[jaxx]

2. Jeezus is it a conspiracy?

The f'n pundits can't stop running their mouths (or keyboards) as to who won the election. Hey....it's not until Nov. 2nd.

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Delete

[geckosfeet]

4. My hogwash radar has been activated.

[katandmoon]

5. What he SHOULD want? Judging from how regularly he and his spokespeople have belittled and betrayed

progressives, it's what he DOES want.

[emulatorloo]

11. I think your Hyperbole machine needs a little repair, it is stuck on the "Absurd" setting

[CakeGrrl]

14. Hmmm...more BAD "judging". No surprise. n/t

[dionysus]

25. you just can't help yourself, can you?

[SKKY]

6. What's the technical word for this?

Ahhhh! Yes! I've got it! "A Load of Crap!"

[butterfly77]

7. BULLSHIT!

I'm coming out and making sure everybody I can talk to will too,VOTE DEMOCRATS!!!

[ProSense]

8. It's

Peter Baker.

[Spazito]

13. Exactly! n/t

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

9. What a bunch of bullshit!!! nt

[Champion Jack]

10. hmmmm, something doesn't smell right here......

[subterranean]

12. I think a Republican victory would help to ensure Obama's re-election.

Having said that, the idea that Obama would prefer this scenario assumes that his own re-election is all that matters to him, and that he wouldn't mind spending the next two to six years getting nothing accomplished and dealing with endless bogus Congressional investigations. I don't believe he thinks that way.

[newspeak]

24. I'm not caring about his reelection as much as I care about the damage perpetrated on us

You do remember Glass-Steagal-it went bye-bye; how about the welfare deform act? Then, there was the Telecommunications act. I can see it now-SS privatization gets put on the table, more privatization of government and Wall street gets more hands on just like when Little Boots was in office. It is a nightmare of epic proportions!!!!

Who cares if Obama is reelected, when so much damage may continue. It does not bode well for repugs to win, when our economic life is at stake.

[CakeGrrl]

15. Buncha bullshit. Letting Republicans have ANYTHING is bad for the American people, period. n/t

[AspenRose]

30. Word!

[JNelson6563]

16. I think spam is yucky.

Why not take your spam to FR where your message is more fitting?

[SoFlaJet]

17. oh good

I guess I might as well just stay home next Tuesday...(rolls eyes)

[Aramchek]

18. you are consistent, that much is certain. do these posts really make you feel good?

give up the grudge and move on.

[AtomicKitten]

19. If we keep both houses of Congress, that's a win. Winning is winning. nt

[Jennicut]

20. Clinton won in 1996 but was hampered by a Repub Congress. There is no

"winning" to be had. We need to try as hard as we can to keep the House and Senate.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

21. That's A Fundamental Misreading Of History

And people accept this flawed version Of history at their peril. Clinton did not win reelection in 1996 because he had a Republican Congress as a foil nor because Bob Dole was a flawed candidate. He won reelection because unemployment was at 5.6% and the economy was growing at an annual rate of 4%.

[Raine]

22. A loss is a loss

and there is no win in it for the American people.

[Spazito]

23. Mre bullshit from Peter Baker....

no surprise there.

Unrec.

[JoePhilly]

26. Horse Shit.

[Ikonoklast]

27. How many of these 'Democrats are losing' threads are you going to post?

UNREC.

[budkin]

28. No, there won't be

[Clio the Leo]

29. A very valid argument....

.... and if the GOP DOES win the House, watching the already-begun infighting play out will be delightful.

[BlueMTexpat]

31. What kind of BS is this anyway?

And what is it doing here?

First of all, I do not consider the midterms as lost - and NO true Democrat should.
Secondly, a midterm loss for Dems would NOT be a win in any sense.

Yes, I can and will continue to criticize Dems for not being as progressive as I believe that they should be. But I KNOW that Republicans will never even try. Why on earth would I vote against my own interest? Why on earth would any person?

That's the bottom line.

[JuniperLea]

32. Another one? Really?

Are you that happy over the possibility of a Dem loss?

I really hate seeing the EVIL GOTP's work being done on DU... really... pisses me off... please stop.

[michaelslomo]

33. Defeatist talk

“The best possible result for Obama politically is for the Republicans to gain control of both houses,” said Douglas E. Schoen, a Democratic pollster and strategist . . . “That’s what Obama should want.”

This is no way to be thinking and talking before an election.