2006 Looms as a Test Of National vs. Local Issues

[Thom Little]

"All politics is local," the late House Speaker Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill Jr. (D-Mass.) liked to say. He should have added, "except when it isn't."

As both major parties gear up for the 2006 midterm elections, a crucial strategic divide is emerging in the battle for the House. Democrats -- led by Rep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee -- are insisting that national issues such as the war in Iraq, corruption in Congress and President Bush's approval ratings will be dominant in voters' minds next year. Republicans insist recent history shows that local issues, not national waves, determine who wins.

Who's right? That won't be known until next November, but both sides are busy marshaling their arguments for a campaign likely to be watched closely as political scientists and operatives study the effectiveness of "nationalizing" midterm elections.

The Democratic view is summed up by a memo that Emanuel distributed to colleagues earlier this month, offering his marching orders for the midterms. He thinks two words will doom GOP incumbents: "rubber stamp." He wants Democratic candidates to make their opponents pay for being consistent backers of President Bush's agenda over his first 4 1/2 years. Bush's low national approval ratings, by these lights, leave anyone identified with him in a precarious position.

"The DCCC 'rubber stamp' message is also a strategic lynch pin in our goal to nationalize the elections," writes Emanuel. "A nationalized election labeling Republicans as rubber stamps and Democrats as agents of change is absolutely key to our success in 2006."



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/10/AR2005121000890.html

[snowbear]

1. Rahm is right...

In my opinion.

Local issues may have dominated voter opinion in the past... but not next time.

Bush and his band of criminals are too vile.. too corrupt.. too disgusting. :puke:

What happened in Virginia and New Jersey recently are only a preview of 'what's to come' ~~

The nation is going in the wrong direction as a result of one-party majority that is so drunk on power they can no longer function. America knows that it's time for a change.

Rock on Rahm! :headbang:

[Crazy Guggenheim]

2. I think Emanuel is right.