The Democrats face a major disadvantage in the 2010 midterm elections compared to the 2008 and presumably the 2012 election–they won’t have Barack Obama on the ballot. In addition, many of the young voters who helped Obama win typically do not vote in off year elections. Obama also received the votes of many new voters in 2008, including minority voters. The Democratic National Committee began distributing the above video as part of an attempt to get the first time voters who backed Obama in 2008 to turn out in 2010:
“This year, the stakes are higher than ever,” he said, according to a transcript of his remarks provided by Democratic officials. “It will be up to each of you to make sure that young people, African Americans, Latinos and women who powered our victory in 2008 stand together once again.
“If you help make sure that first-time voters in 2008 make their voices heard again in November,” he added, “then together we will deliver on the promise of change, hope and prosperity for generations to come.”
While so far Republicans have been winning the spin war despite being wrong on the issues, the Democrats are finally talking about explaining why voters should not return the Republicans to power:
Kaine said Obama plans to frame the elections as a choice between continued Democratic control or a return to Republican power. “Our story begins with: Democrats are results people and the Republicans are political obstructionists,” he said in an interview. “Do we want to continue the direction that sees us climbing out of the recession or do we want to go back to the same policies that put us in the ditch in the first place?”
The Democrats have a tough job considering how far ahead the Republicans are in the spin war. For example, Republicans have managed to get a substantial number of voters to tell pollsters they oppose the health care plan despite agreeing on the individual components of the plan. Conservatives have been misled into protesting higher taxes despite receiving tax cuts from Obama. Republicans have also had success in denying the benefits of the stimulus package while getting many voters to forget which party is responsible for the recession in the first place.
While they are unable to actually govern, the Republicans are far better at distorting the facts to support their goals. Joe Gandelman even notes that this is being done with the above video. Politico ran the video as part of a story entitled Obama seeks to ‘reconnect…young people, African-Americans, Latinos, and women’ for 2010.” This headline is explained in the story:
The Democratic National Committee this morning released this clip of the president rallying the troops, if rather coolly, for 2010. Obama’s express goal: “reconnecting” with the voters who voted for the first time in 2008, but who may not plan to vote in the lower-profile Congressional elections this year.
Obama speaks with unusual demographic frankness about his coalition in his appeal to “young people, African-Americans, Latinos, and women who powered our victory in 2008 [to] stand together once again.”
Turning out those so-called “surge” voters — who turned out for the first time to back Obama, but who sat out gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia last year — has become the Democrats’ central pre-occupation for the midterm elections, and the new Democratic effort to nationalize the election around Obama and his agenda mark an attempt to energize those voters.
Gandelman then compared this to the spin in Drudge’s headline for the same story: “OBAMA PLAYS RACE CARD: RALLIES BLACKS, LATINOS FOR ‘10 UPSET”
Gandelman explained that the Politico story ” is further confirmation of something many on this site and a zillion other political blogs and mainstream reporters have noted: in order for the Democrats to win they need to get out the vote by getting out people who voted for the Dems last time and won the election.” He then explained why the Drudge story is inaccurate and concluded:
It’s pure, partisan button-pushing — which will translate (just you watch) into blog posts, indignant talk radio hosts, cable hosts asking about plans to play the “race card.” Who cares if it’s accurate or not? It’s a great chance to get indignant and arouse hatreds about an opponent. It’s (these days) as American as apple pie.
It will take all of Obama’s famed oratory skills to overcome the damage caused by the right wing noise machine.
