Visions - Winter/Spring 2010 - 11

The View From Washington

2010 Mid-Term Election Year Outlook

Introduction: The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same

A

year ago in these pages the Washington office dared to declare that change appeared to be coming to Washington. At that time, President Barack Obama carried enormously high approval ratings, Congress was solidly in the hands of Democrats, and the Democratic Party held a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. With President Obama promising to be a truly bipartisan president, movement on progressive legislative priorities such as health care and cap-and-trade seemed assured. Following quick passage of the $787 billion economic stimulus bill within a month of taking office, the Obama administration made a tactical mistake by allowing the left-wing of the Democratic Party to craft health care reform and other important legislation. Instead of courting independents and moderate Republicans to the cause, and forgetting that America’s political structure is designed specifically to make legislation at the federal level difficult to pass, Democratic Party leaders tried to ram through health care legislation in short order. The result has been disastrous for Democrats: rising influence of the conservative “Tea Party” movement, Republican gubernatorial wins in New Jersey andVirginia, loss of super-majority status in the Senate with the election of Republican Scott Brown to fill the Massachusetts Senate seat held by the late Edward Kennedy since 1962, a rash of retirements on the Democratic side of the aisle, and presidential approval ratings that are in free fall. Although Democrats have passed a series of lesser bills, and there remains a limited window of opportunity to pass additional legislation in this mid-term election year, the prospect of hope and change that President Obama appeared to bring to office has faded and Washington appears to be right back where it started on the major issues of the day: gridlock.

Where Priorities Lie in an Unsettled Political Landscape. The chart below provides an outline of the public’s top priorities for 2010. Not surprisingly, the economy and jobs top the public’s list of most important issues facing the country. What is interesting is the place held by issues that until recently were among Democrats’ main concerns. For instance, health care ranks eighth, below terrorism and deficit reduction; financial regulatory reform ranks 15th, behind such things as crime and moral decline; and global warming ranks dead last among the public’s list of priority issues.
The Public’s Top Priorities for 2010 – % rating each a “top priority”
Economy Jobs Terrorism Social Security Education Medicare Deficit reduction Health care Helping the poor Military Energy Health insurance Crime Moral decline Finance regulation Environment Tax cuts Immigration Lobbyists Trade policy Global warming
83% 81% 80% 66% 65% 63% 60% 57% 53% 49% 49% 49% 49% 45% 45% 44% 42% 40% 36% 32% 28%
0%
Source: Pew Research Center
Sumitomo Corporation of America

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

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Visions - Winter/Spring 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Visions - Winter/Spring 2010
