The slogan pushed by the Democrats during the campaign was ”A New Direction for America”. It may have captured the imagination of the voters, but just how it translates into reality will define the remaining two years of the Bush presidency — as well as the Democrats’ prospects in the 2008 presidential election.
”The storm finally broke, and we can see blue again,” said Democratic strategist Donna Brazil, who ran Al Gore’s unsuccessful run for the presidency in 2000. But while the skies may have cleared for the Democratic party, victory — and the power that comes with it — may muddy the field for 2008.
”There is a huge wind in favour of Democrats as a whole,” said Democratic pollster and former Clinton administration official Jeremy Rosner. ”But I haven’t heard a convincing argument of how this changes the field within the Democrats.”
With House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi and Senate minority leader Harry Reid now the party’s two most visible leaders, senior Democrats with an eye on 2008 wasted little time in associating themselves with Tuesday’s results.
Hillary Clinton was a beneficiary of the Democrat victory. Many saw her Senate campaign as a dry run for a presidential bid in 2008. Certainly, money she raised and spent in a race in which she was a shoo-in suggested she had her eye on something other than her New York seat.
Should she stand, however, Senator Clinton will have to devise a strategy for a problem which plagued the last two Democratic presidential candidates: her husband. Next to the glare of former president Clinton’s celebrity, most other Democrats fade away. This was evident in Senator Clinton’s victory speech on Tuesday, when she struggled for a spark of charisma as her husband stood behind.
Another senior Democrat and possible 2008 hopeful, John Kerry, made an abrupt return to the public eye on Tuesday night. The candidate from 2004 appeared at a victory rally in Missouri days after he had disappeared from the campaign trail following his ”botched joke” about Iraq.
New Mexico governor Bill Richardson was also a prominent face on Tuesday, popping up on cable news channels to playfully duck questions about a possible presidential run. But there was speculation that the Democrat’s virtual sweep of the north-east might lead it to choose a nominee from elsewhere in 2008, particularly the south or the west. Richardson was keen to point out that the only Democrats to take the presidency in almost 40 years were Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, both southern governors.
While that analysis will not sit well with Senator Clinton, she will be more troubled by the possibility that Barack Obama, the first-term senator from Illinois, will run.
Indeed, some argue that the Democrats success on Tuesday will embolden candidates who may have been wavering. ”I think the field is probably going to be bigger after yesterday [Wednesday],” said California Democrat strategist Bob Mulholand.
But the real attention in Washington DC and across the country was focused on how Democrats will advance their agenda of a ”new direction” in the House. Democrats campaigned on issues dubbed Six for 06, ranging from healthcare and education, to raising the minimum wage, protecting social security, and committing to energy independence. Pelosi has pledged to tackle those in the ”first 100 hours” after taking office on January 3.
But with the president holding the power of veto, there are doubts as to whether the Democrats can achieve anything more than signalling intentions and embarrassing Bush, by forcing him to consider what he might deem unpalatable legislation. The president, analysts said, is unlikely to wield his veto against proposals to raise the minimum wage or reduce the price of prescription drugs.
”I don’t have any doubts that they can get this through the House,” said Rosner. ”They may get watered down in the Senate but there will be enough for them to say, look, we’ve got things done.” – Guardian Unlimited Â