Biden-Buttigieg dream of uniting Congress runs into DC skeptics

[BeyondGeography]

WASHINGTON Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg are selling voters on their ability to unite Democrats and Republicans around their agenda. But current and former members of Congress have a message for them: Dream on. Biden frequently tells voters that if President Donald Trump is defeated, Republicans will have an "epiphany" and work with Democrats. Buttigieg, in a 30-second spot appearing in South Carolina, vows to "unify the American people" around pocketbook issues, gun violence and immigration. But the two moderate Democrats may be walking into the same trap that stymied President Barack Obama: a belief that they can overcome intense tribalism and get Republicans to work with them. Biden and Buttigieg are campaigning on ideas that mirror Obama's second-term agenda, from raising the minimum wage to regulating gun ownership to bolstering the Affordable Care Act. All have broad national support but have been blocked by Republicans.

"For Republicans specifically, most of these proposals are dead in the water," said David Jolly, a Republican congressman who represented a Florida district from 2014 to 2017 and has since left the party. He said the prospect of cross-party cooperation around such goals is "unrealistic where today's politics lie," even if it's visionary in a way that speaks to voters' aspirations. Jolly said that even if Democrats win big in 2020, the way congressional districts are drawn would hinder cooperation because each party is predominantly responsive to its core base. "Between gerrymandering, closed primaries and big money going through leadership, you create hyperpartisan behavior," he said.

..."The degree of impossibility of cooperation got worse with Trump," said Barney Frank, a former Democratic congressman from Massachusetts who retired in 2013 after 40 years. "It's not a mistake for Democrats to be open to cooperation it's a mistake to assume it's going to come. I think Obama was too naive about that...He said he was going to govern in a post-partisan manner. I said he gave me post-partisan depression when he said that." Frank said he sees "very little" hope that Republicans would cooperate on even the more modest proposals that have been advanced in the Democratic race unless they face a landslide defeat that causes them to change. He recalled Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's pledge in 2010 that his "single most important" priority was to block Obama's reelection.

...Dan Pfeiffer, a former senior adviser to Obama, said there is "a contradiction between what may be the most appealing general election message and what is the best governing strategy."

"A lot of voters want to believe that the country can be less divided than it is now and are interested in a candidate that will at least try," Pfeiffer said. "The danger of that message is that if you win, your success will be graded on whether you can get Mitch McConnell to cooperate with you, which will not happen under any circumstances."

https://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-tns-bc-biden-buttigieg-congress-20191210-story.html

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. So if MoscowMitch is in our way, well then, he must go.

And there is a chance that he will go down to defeat in Nov. 2020.

[BeyondGeography]

2. Let's see what his numbers look like after he kills impeachment

House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) says Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) could face a surprisingly difficult reelection battle next year, pointing to his lackluster approval rating in the Bluegrass State. In response to a question over whether McConnell would be vulnerable against likely Democrat opponent Amy McGrath in 2020, Yarmuth told Hill.TV on Monday that, “there’s a shot but it’s going to be tough.”

According to a RealClearPolitics polling average, McConnell’s approval rating currently sits at 24.3 percent, and Morning Consult poll conducted over the summer also found that he is America’s most unpopular senator with voters in their own state.

Yarmuth said McConnell’s lack of popularity in the deep-red state has partly to do with his sometimes tumultuous relationship with Trump. The two have been at odds on a number of issues, including Trump’s approach to foreign policy.

“One of the reasons why Mitch [McConnell] is so weak in polling is because there are a lot of Trump voters who don’t think he has helped Trump enough, so they’re not necessarily liberal Democrats,” he told Hill.TV.

But Yarmuth added that Kentucky voters are “not going to turn away from Trump” unless for some reason the president isn’t on the ballot. McConnell has tied himself closely to the president as he runs for reelection in Kentucky, which voted heavily for Trump in 2016...

https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/469003-kentucky-democrat-theres-a-shot-mcconnell-could-be-vulnerable-in-2020

Yarmuth sounds like he’s predicting a rebound.

[judeling]

3. Why I support Klobuchar frankly.

her bipartisanship is based on Republican self interest and she bases her proposals on near term immediate gain that can be presented independently in digestible chunks. She is a legislator and the most effective one we have outside of Pelosi, that requires the what and the HOW. Of all the candidates running she has the how integrated into her campaign. As she has said, "we have the House" and "I know where the votes are". That shows a understanding of the post Trump dynamic that no other candidate has articulated.

[CrispyQ]

4. McConnell's not going to work with any dem prez. Not even Biden.

Suddenly there will no longer be judicial appointments & if SCOTUS loses a member we will go indefinitely with eight on the bench until McConnell is replaced or a republican is president again.

In some ways, I loathe McConnell most of all.

[BlueMTexpat]

5. This!!!

Anyone who thinks otherwise hasn't been paying attention since January 2009.

[loyalsister]

7. I wish I believed that

But, there was some cooperation between Clinton and Republicans. The crime Bill, Welfare reform, etc.

The refusal to cooperate with Obama was rooted in white supremacy. The belief that the GOP will see the light and work with a white male president is also rooted in white male supremacy. I wish I didn't believe that to be true. But, unfortunately, I think they are potentially correct and the worst part is they seem to be okay with it. I will vote for these men only if one of them is the nominee.

[AngelicaHora]

6. I wouldn't include Buttigieg in this narrative

When Buttigieg talks about reaching across the aisle he means Republican voters, not the ones currently elected. Most of us know there's no working with them.

[BeckyDem]

8. Understand what it takes to get Republicans to vote for our legislation.

It has to favor their donors and that usually means it is never going to happen. Why do you think they deny climate change or say you can't do anything about it? Their Koch money is why and that is only ONE source of many.

No matter which Democrat wins they must commit to a strategy to win every seat away from the Republicans. I do not like the idea of candidates not ready to fight for every seat.