Dems to voters: You may hate us, but GOP is worse

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Dems to voters: You may hate us, but GOP is worse

By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press Writer Babington, Associated

Press Writer – 2 hrs 48 mins ago

WASHINGTON – With just six weeks to avoid a possible election catastrophe,

Democrats are trying to limit the damage with a closing argument that's more

plea than platform: We know you voters are furious with us, but just let us

explain why the Republicans would be worse.

The strategy requires an autumn influx of voters willing to view the election as

a choice between two imperfect parties — and imperfect candidates on each ballot

line — rather than as a chance to slap the Washington establishment that the

public seems to dislike so deeply.

But the Democrats admit the Republicans have a big emotional advantage with

voters who are fed up with high unemployment, soaring deficits and what many see

as an arrogant Congress and administration that rammed a revolutionary health

care plan down their throats.

If voters keep burning with the throw-the-bums-out fever that animated so many

primaries, Democrats would be likely to lose more than 40 House seats, costing

them the majority and positioning Republicans to block virtually any Obama

initiatives in the next two years. Losing the Senate majority, which would

require a 10-seat Republican gain, is less likely.

Democratic candidates want to convince these voters that no matter how much they

hate the status quo, they would be worse off under a Republican Party that

hasn't learned from its mistakes and is lurching ever harder to the right.

" This needs to be a choice, not a referendum " on the Democratic-led Congress and

Obama administration, said , a Democratic campaign adviser.

President Barack Obama, campaigning for a Senate contender in Connecticut on

Thursday, said of Republicans: " All they are going to be feeding us is anger and

resentment and not a lot of new ideas. But that's a potent force when people are

scared and they're hurting. "

Democrats already have given up on keeping several seats, including a House seat

in Tennessee and a Senate seat in North Dakota. Party insiders aren't quite in

full panic mode. But they are intensely debating how to frame the final message,

which candidates to help with last-minute spending, and where to focus ground

troops.

Senate campaign officials said they have made no final decisions about how to

allocate money, but Democrat Brad Ellsworth is no longer airing TV ads in his

bid to hold the Indiana Senate seat left open by retiring Democrat Evan Bayh.

Republican nominee Dan Coats leads in polls there.

Ellsworth spokeswoman Liz Farrar said her campaign will resume TV ads at some

point. " Voters in Indiana have not seen or heard the last of Brad Ellsworth, "

she said.

Schultz of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee would not discuss

aid to Ellsworth, but he said, " We have to make a lot of spending decisions in

the next 45 days. "

For Democratic House candidates, triage is already under way. The

Washington-based party headquarters recently cut off aid to Brett , seen

as having little chance to hold the Tennessee House seat being vacated by

Democratic Rep. Bart Gordon.

Financial reports show House and Senate candidates have raised nearly $1.2

billion in this election cycle, well ahead of the pace for previous contests.

Overall, Democratic and Republican candidates have raised nearly equal amounts.

But the Democratic Party, including its state affiliates, has a 3-2 fundraising

advantage over the GOP and its affiliates.

Helping close the gap is a web of conservative groups that have spent millions

of dollars to help Republican candidates. Among the most prominent is American

Crossroads and its allied groups, created under the direction of former Bush

political strategist Karl Rove and former Republican National Committee Chairman

Ed Gillespie.

What's more, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce aims to spend up to $75 million on the

election, mostly for Republicans.

Organized labor plans to spend $100 million or more for Democrats. The AFL-CIO

has pledged to spend more than $50 million, and the Service Employees

International Union has a $44 million political budget. The American Federation

of State, County and Municipal Employees, which is also pledging millions to

assist Democrats, has been airing ads in key battlegrounds.

In a possible bright spot for Democrats, national party officials say they will

spend $50 million for on-the-ground organizing, sending out volunteers to

contact voters and " persuadable " people. That includes 15 million to 20 million

who voted for the first time in 2008, when Obama inspired many young and

minority voters.

GOP House campaign spokesman says that every poll finds far more

enthusiasm among Republican voters than Democrats, so " they have a problem on

their hands when it comes to voter intensity. "

Obama remains a relatively popular president, certainly compared with Congress,

and he recently transferred $4.5 million from his presidential campaign account

to Democratic House, Senate and gubernatorial efforts. He plans campaign stops

in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Nevada, all of which have competitive

Senate or gubernatorial races or both.

National Democratic officials, meanwhile, are sparring over how best to frame

their argument in the final six weeks. A chief dispute is how to respond to the

tea party's remarkable success, capped by Tuesday's Delaware Senate Republican

primary. Insurgent O'Donnell stunned political pros by defeating

longtime lawmaker Mike Castle, a moderate.

Veteran Democratic consultant Kofinis was drafting a memo Friday urging

candidates and party officials to boost their efforts to portray the GOP as a

party hijacked by extremists with unorthodox ideas such as dismantling Social

Security. Democratic candidates should woo two crucial groups — persuadable

independents and disillusioned liberals — by highlighting the threat of " a

radical, extreme fringe that will control and does control the Republican

Party, " Kofinis said in an interview.

So far, Obama and other top Democrats are sticking more closely to a different

theme: If voters return Republicans to power, they say, it will bring back Bush

administration policies that led to the financial near-collapse of 2008-2009.

This past-is-prologue warning depicts veteran Republican lawmakers, such as

House Minority Leader Boehner, as unrepentant Bush loyalists and entrenched

lackeys of wealthy special interest groups.

Obama likes to warn voters against returning the government's car keys to those

who " drove us into the ditch " in the first place.

Kofinis thinks the tea party gives Democrats a better, more forward-looking

opening. " I don't think the Bush argument works, " he said. " No one knows who

Boehner is. "

Democratic candidates should marry the two messages, not choose between them,

says Rep. Van Hollen, who oversees the party's efforts to win House seats.

Tea party nominees, he said, " represent Bush economic policy on steroids. "

Establishment Republicans such as Boehner already want to loosen regulations on

Wall Street, the workplace and other areas, Van Hollen said. Libertarian-leaning

tea party activists will push them even further.

Matt , vice president of the Democratic-leaning group Third Way, cites

polls finding that most voters, despite an overall anger with the establishment,

support Democrats on many specific issues, such as tax cuts for the wealthy.

Democratic House and Senate candidates, he said, should constantly tell voters

" there's only two choices, there's no other. "

Specific issues will hardly matter, however, if Democrats can't persuade

middle-of-the-road voters to calmly weigh the ramifications of lashing out at

the party in power.

" The most important thing Democrats can do is unnationalize the election, " said

Democratic strategist Dio. " In every state and every district, it

has to be a choice between them and us. Our policies are more popular than

theirs. "

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Associated Press writers Jim Kuhnhenn and Liz Sidoti contributed to this report.