Eight months before election day, politicians are considering the challenge of distancing their congressional and gubernatorial campaigns from the way national politics in being conducted in Washington.
For Democrats, this means taking a step away from both the Democratic Party and the president and using the term “independent” as much as possible on the campaign stump.
Republican disaffection with Obama is huge, as only 15 percent of GOP poll respondents approving of the president’s performance.
Significantly, his approval among independents — who were critical to his election — has fallen to 38 percent, a drop of 10 points in three months.
The biggest issues of contention are the deficit, health care and the economy, with 90 percent of Republicans and Tea Party activists saying the federal government is spending too much.
“Right now, it’s anti-incumbent. Nobody’s happy with what’s going on. Everybody’s starting to consider himself independent. Americans want progress and things to move forward, and stop the bickering,” a political observer told Arab News.
“People look at both parties and they can’t identify with them. Where are the centrists?”
“It is crystal clear that people are looking for problem solvers,” a political analyst told Arab News. “They don’t care about the party; they are looking for the skills.”
Republicans running for statewide offices are hoping that they can cash in on public disappointment with the conduct of leaders in Washington.
There is also focus on the Tea Party movement. Nearly a year old, it has given rise to Republican candidates locally and propelled others to recent primary victories in the Southwest. But many in the group have refused to commit to the GOP ticket, rendering the movement's impact on the upcoming fall elections unclear. At the very least, Tea Partiers, with their core message of reigning in government spending, are a force to be reckoned with by those on both sides of the aisle, according to political experts and members of the movement.
“I distance myself and disagree with a lot of what goes on in Washington,” Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut’s Democratic attorney general, who is running for the Senate seat held by the retiring Chris Dodd, recently told reporters. “I regard myself as an independent.”
Democrat Lee Fisher, Ohio’s lieutenant governor now running for the Senate, has embraced voter frustration in meetings throughout his state.
“I tell them that I’m a Democrat, but I’m an Ohioan and an American first, and therefore while I support our president, I don’t always agree with him,” he said.
Still, Democrats might be wise not to distance themselves too far from the president. A new Gallup poll released last week found that Americans trust President Barack Obama more than either Democrats or Republicans in Congress.
Just under half of respondents, 49 percent, said they're confident in Obama's health care recommendations, compared to 37 percent for Democratic leaders in Congress and 32 percent for Republicans leaders in Congress.
The results may suggest it was wise for the president to set forth his own policy fixes in advance of the health care summit. Nevertheless, Obama's numbers are down from 58 percent in June.
