Analysis: Dems Increasingly Show ‘Panic’ Over Midterms

Democrats are increasingly worried about the midterm elections, and there is “panic” in the White House as polls continue to trend well for Republicans in the weeks leading up to November, political analysts said over the weekend.

In an interview with Harry Smith, the guest host of CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Jim VandeHei, the executive editor of Politico, questioned if the White House really understood the potential danger looming for Democrats in terms of losing control of the House and, quite possibly, the Senate.

"Do you feel any sense of panic or concern" on the part of the administration, Smith asked.

“They get it. There's panic. There's concern,” VandeHei said, adding: “The reality for this administration stinks, politically and practically, when it comes to the economy. You're not going to be able to change that 9.6-percent unemployment figure. You can't get anything from Congress in the next couple of months.”

CBS Congressional Correspondent Nancy Cordes echoed similar sentiments, noting that Obama’s rising unpopularity has caused a number of Democrats to remain aloof or even distance themselves from the president.

“Not only are they running away from President Obama, they're running away from being Democrats in some cases. In some races you actually see the Democratic candidates not really mentioning that they're a Democrat in their campaign ads,” she told Smith.

The discontent is translating into political momentum for Republicans who, in a recent generic poll by Gallup, have a 10-point lead over rival Democrats, a yawning gap that hasn’t been that pronounced in the 60-odd years the polling agency has been tracking such numbers, VandeHei pointed out.

Cordes, meanwhile, pointed out that Republicans are poised to win 45-50 House seats, but need only 39 to regain control. The Senate isn’t as certain, but the very latest polls indicate Republicans gaining ground in that chamber as well, making the possibility of a full sweep seem more likely as November approaches.

Worse, say analysts, Democrats seem to be retreating from the president’s signature issues, as well as their support for them. On health care, for example, VandeHei pointed out, “Not a single Democrat has run an ad in support of the health care bill since April.”

Also, Cordes noted that the signature issues, which included passage of the health care and Wall Street regulatory legislation, have yet to impact or resonate with average Americans yet – most of whom, according to every major poll, are most concerned about jobs and the economy, as well as the rising sea of government red ink.

Still, the analysts pointed out that in politics, nothing is a sure thing.

“It's never too late” for the Democrats to regain momentum, VandeHei told the news program. “Think about how fickle we are in everything in life now, whether it's the cell phone that we choose or what we think about politics or what we do in our daily life.

“People are fickle. … At the end of the day, it has to be that Obama has to find that magic. How can he get liberals to be as excited about him and about Democratic change as they were two years ago?” he added.

And for his part, Obama announced over the weekend new economic and jobs initiatives, primarily to include a $100 billion measure to foster more corporate research and development, an initiative he says could be paid for by closing a number of corporate tax loopholes.

As the Democratic leadership retrenches and, according to The New York Times, prepares to defend only the most winnable seats in the fall elections, Republicans appear poised to win big.

Yet, seasoned GOP operatives aren’t taking any bets.

“This isn't going to be as easy as it looks, by any means,” Terry Holt, a top aide to George W. Bush's 2004 reelection campaign who has been informally advising House Republican leaders, told The Los Angeles Times. “It's going to require an awful lot of really focused organizational and grass-roots efforts to truly take advantage of the opportunity we have been given.”

Other GOP analysts are equally pragmatic.

“If we get overconfident and don't stick to our message, and we don't work for that vote, we will lose that vote,” Glenn McCall, a member of the Republican National Committee from South Carolina, told the Times.