DOUGLAS E. SCHOEN: If Democrats bend a little, they'll gain a lot

[babylonsister]

Me: BEND A LITTLE? What exactly have they been doing? And this guy wears a lot of hats, n'est pas? Gee, can't we all just get along? And that Bill Clinton is a heckuva guy, isn't he? :eyes:


If Democrats bend a little, they'll gain a lot

BY DOUGLAS E. SCHOEN | Douglas E. Schoen is the author of the recently published "The Power of the Vote: Electing Presidents, Overthrowing Dictators, and Promoting Democracy Around the World." He was a founding partner of P (and it stops there:wtf:)
October 7, 2007


In Washington, both Democrats and Republicans are in a fighting mood, and even though Iraq is the main event, blows are being traded over much more.

But neither party can win. The Democrats don't control Congress by a large enough margin to advance an agenda, congressional Republicans are numerous enough to frustrate Democrats' ambitions, and President George W. Bush is a particularly obstinate lame duck.

The president's veto last week of a bill extending children's health insurance is an example of the legislative paralysis that we can expect. Divided government demands compromise, and bipartisan consensus is something no one in Washington appears willing to stomach.

Combined with the absence of a clearly articulated Democratic agenda, Congress' rigidity leaves Bush and his band of loyal - albeit decreasingly so - supporters still in control of setting federal policy. It's bizarre, given the Democrats' victory in the 2006 elections.

Recent history shows another path that the Democrats could take. During the 1994 congressional transfer, Republicans drove the agenda. To appear relevant, the unpopular-at-the-time President Bill Clinton co-opted the popular balanced-budget initiative at the center of the nascent congressional majority's agenda, while preserving key social programs that Democrats supported.

Rather than reflexively opposing all initiatives that the Republican congressional majority advocated, Clinton seized on ones where he stood a chance of achieving support within his own party. Such bipartisanship may appear anathema to Democrats now (as it was to Democrats in 1995), but Clinton was vindicated by his re-election and the growing unpopularity of House Republicans in the rest of his term.

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http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-opsch075404191oct07,0,7652706.story