Ahead of the 2010 midterm elections, House Republicans want to refocus their efforts on finding solutions to failed Democratic policies. House Minority Leader John Boehner (D-Ohio) said that could include a new version of the 1994 “Contract with America” that led to Republican electoral success at all levels of government.
The timing couldn’t have been better: A new poll released yesterday found that a full 50 percent of American voters would not re-elect Obama if another election were held now. A poll by Allstate and the National Journal also found “Americans’ growing dissatisfaction with the state of the country” and that the huge majority believe America is on the wrong track.
That means it’s time to seize the moment. Boehner said the new “contractual” or “agenda” “will include conference members and our candidates,” meaning it could be a litmus test of sorts for all House GOPers in the midterms. It would likely include agenda items such as cutting taxes and reducing the deficit, as well as addressing immigration and aid programs.
The House Republican Conference’s annual retreat, which begins in two weeks, is expected to provide a forum for Republicans to talk about policy goals – key in the last two years of President Obama’s first term.
“At our annual retreat, House Republicans will work on solutions to correct the failed policies Democrats have implemented over the last 12 months,” said Mary Vought, HRC press secretary.
Vought said House GOP leaders chose Baltimore as the retreat site “because it’s a working-class city with an unemployment rate of 10.8 percent.”
President Obama is scheduled to speak at the conference, and attendance will be record-breaking.
“As more and more Americans turn to House Republicans for solutions to our current crises, we expect another large gathering,” Vought said.
Democrats held a parallel rally this week, but they didn’t “withdraw” anywhere – their annual conference was held on Capitol Hill during a series of meetings focused on labor issues. Reports indicate that they tried not to appear as if they were going on a retreat while the rest of America was challenging at work.
About 170 of the 257 Democrats in the House attended the event, where President Obama spoke alongside former President Bill Clinton.
If the National Journal poll means anything, it’s that Democrats have a lot to talk about. The huge majority of Americans said the government must make government programs more effective while cutting wasteful spending, and that they wanted the government to force financial institutions to return money from the rescue package. Meanwhile, Democrats are considering a second stimulus and increasing government programs rather than improving existing ones.
This could assist Republicans in 2010, especially those who failed to get elected in previous years. Politico reported that a half-dozen lawmakers who didn’t win elections in 2006 and 2008 were considering returning to the ballot or had already said they would do so. A revitalized political effort, and perhaps even a revised Contract with America, may be the way forward.
