Sinking Ship?

You have to wonder whether the adage about rats leaving a sinking ship applies to Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd and North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan. Both have announced that they will not seek re-election. Have these men just had enough of Washington or do they see the writing on the wall with respect to the damage President Obama is doing to the Democratic Party?

Many Americans have expressed their displeasure with the universal healthcare bill and with the secretive process with which it was drafted. According to The Washington Times, “in at least seven states -- Connecticut, Nevada, Ohio, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, North Dakota and Colorado -- the Democratic candidate for Senate trails the Republican in the most recent polls. In those states, Mr. Obama's popularity has dropped below the percentage of votes he drew in 2008, and opposition to the health-care-reform bill is deep and wide.”

The President has earned a reputation as someone who cannot be trusted, someone who speaks with a forked tongue. House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi said as much Tuesday when grilled by reporters about the healthcare reform bill’s closed-door negotiations. When reminded by the media that candidate Obama said all negotiations should be open to C-Span, Pelosi replied, ““There are a number of things he was for on the campaign trail.” Ouch. In other words, even our President’s own party doesn’t know which way he is blowing daily.

Congressional Democrats fear that the President views them as nothing more than vassals, subject to his whims and fancies. And they recognize that come November it will be they who must face the voters’ wrath. Don’t be surprised if there are others in the Democratic Party who choose to follow Dodd and Dorgan and ride off into the sunset when their terms expire.
___________________________

Need a PR Specialist? Perhaps my 13 years of PR experience can satisfy those needs. Contact Donald Tremblay (The Rain Maker) at 718-664-3405 or at dtremblay@earthlink.net. For more info about me visit my LinkedIn Profile.