Barack Obama launches fund-raising blitz to help Democrats in Congress
4 April 2013 8:30 AM IST
The party in power in the White House usually loses seats in election years in which the presidency is not up for grabs. This means Democrats have their work cut out for them in trying to win a majority in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and add to their majority in the Senate.
‘An off-year is always tough for the party in power,’ said Democratic strategist Bud Jackson. ‘But never say never, and I think it’s possible that you could swing some seats. At the very least you make the attempted grab.’
The president has an interest in making the effort, because without a significant change in the make-up of Congress, he faces possible paralysis for many of the initiatives laid out in his inaugural address and State of the Union speech.
His second term, won decisively in the election last November over Republican Mitt Romney, has opened with a repeat of the partisan tensions that marked his first term and with an unrelenting stalemate over taxes and spending.
A bid to tighten gun regulations, which Obama will address at a stop in Denver on Wednesday, is in danger as pro-gun groups pressure lawmakers who for decades have been reluctant to take on the powerful gun lobby. Only an immigration overhaul looks promising as Republicans smarting over Hispanic vote losses in 2012 need a victory on it as much as Obama does.
This does not mean Obama is abandoning his priorities until after the mid-terms. His team in general sees the need for action as soon as possible before the country’s attention turns to the 2014 and 2016 elections.
Obama may offer a more restrained message when he speaks at fund-raising events in San Francisco, talking up his party’s agenda without antagonising political opponents. Republican senators told him that it did not help their fiscal negotiations with him criticising them.
‘An off-year is always tough for the party in power,’ said Democratic strategist Bud Jackson. ‘But never say never, and I think it’s possible that you could swing some seats. At the very least you make the attempted grab.’
The president has an interest in making the effort, because without a significant change in the make-up of Congress, he faces possible paralysis for many of the initiatives laid out in his inaugural address and State of the Union speech.
His second term, won decisively in the election last November over Republican Mitt Romney, has opened with a repeat of the partisan tensions that marked his first term and with an unrelenting stalemate over taxes and spending.
A bid to tighten gun regulations, which Obama will address at a stop in Denver on Wednesday, is in danger as pro-gun groups pressure lawmakers who for decades have been reluctant to take on the powerful gun lobby. Only an immigration overhaul looks promising as Republicans smarting over Hispanic vote losses in 2012 need a victory on it as much as Obama does.
This does not mean Obama is abandoning his priorities until after the mid-terms. His team in general sees the need for action as soon as possible before the country’s attention turns to the 2014 and 2016 elections.
Obama may offer a more restrained message when he speaks at fund-raising events in San Francisco, talking up his party’s agenda without antagonising political opponents. Republican senators told him that it did not help their fiscal negotiations with him criticising them.
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