Democratic lobbyists a sign of the times
Comments (6)
Friday, August 18, 2006 | 01:41 PM ET
By Henry Champ
Remember Jim Blanchard, the former and very popular American ambassador to Canada?
He's got a new job.
Blanchard's now in charge of the lobbying division at one of the top law firms in Washington.
A former governor of Michigan and a Clinton appointee, Blanchard is the latest Democrat to benefit from a perception among top lobbying firms that Democrats are going to take over at least the House of Representatives this fall.
In what might be the understatement of the year, Blanchard said, "Being a Democrat didn't hurt me, that's for sure."
It hasn't hurt many other Democrats, either, where the hiring frenzy is taking on aspects of the Alaskan gold rush. As one lobbying exec told the Washington Post, "We fully expect that the political outcome this fall will be such that we will have to deal on a more senior level with Democrats."
We've written in this space already about U.S. voters' concerns on Iraq and President George W. Bush's handling of the war there. But in conversations with Washington lawyers, it seems they are as much concerned about the economy and how voters are dealing with that.
This morning, after two days of meetings at Camp David with his top economic advisers, the president emerged to pronounce the economy, "solid and strong," adding that because of his administration, "there have been real benefits for entrepreneurs and workers."
There is some good news to support him on this front. Gas prices are high, but the consumer price index is stable. Interest rates are not likely to rise soon, wholesale prices were up marginally in July, and if you excluded food and energy, they actually fell by 0.3 per cent.
But as a New York Times op-ed column put it today, "Since the 1980s the U.S. political scene has been dominated by a conservative movement firmly committed to the view that what's good for the rich is good for America."
The column goes on to argue that the well off have seen their wages grow and blue-collar Americans have just held their own, citing the following statistics.
"Since 1980 real wages in manufacturing fell one per cent, while the richest one per cent, people earning more than $277,000 in 2004, rose 135 per cent."
Accordingly, many in Washington are now saying the imbalance, as well as worries about their economic future, has frightened many voters.
The most recent Gallup poll shows the three top domestic concerns in the U.S. are the affordability of health care, the future of the Social Security program and high gas prices, far outstripping concerns over crime, illegal immigration, drug use and race relations.
It's traditional wisdom that domestic issues normally trump foreign policy issues in American national elections.
This fall may be different because of the overwhelming concerns with Iraq.
But one thing is historically certain: When both foreign and domestic issues are negative, the party in power always suffers.
The president has time to change this scenario.
In the meantime, Jim Blanchard has a new job.
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Henry Champ is CBC Newsworld's correspondent in Washington, D.C., delivering Canadian viewers the latest developments in the U.S. political arena. Recently, he has been a leading Canadian voice on coverage of the war on terrorism, the war in Iraq and the growing concerns over the Canada-U.S. relationship.
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Comments (6)
D. Ledoux
Sleep easy friend. I think America is tired of new blood in Washington, men with executive experience. People will be looking for somebody who knows what they are doing and bless him but hasn't Bush turned the 2008 election into an open race? For the first time the nation will consider a woman for the job. They may not elect her but for once the country is desperate enough for leadership and will look beyond the white male. We do need a good President.
Posted August 21, 2006 01:15 AM
Tim Bryson
Of course, in any free election, the repugs would loose bigtime. A word of caution, however: Diebold.
Posted August 21, 2006 12:10 AM
Donalda Williams Clogg
We can only hope that the Democrats win.
Posted August 20, 2006 08:10 PM
Robet B Carroll
People should realize that when George W Bush became President of the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 10,786. The Dow today stands around 11,100 ...a pitiful 2.9% increase over 5 1/2 years: less than .5% per year growth. US domestic manufacturing is in shambles. Large corporate pensions are headed for defaults. Service jobs that pay low wages and have ZERO benefits, are the only jobs available to anyone looking for work.
Our foreign policy record is perhaps the worst in history. While the Iraq War will surely rank as a great blunder, he's screwed up many other issues as well. Bush's treatment of our best allies, including Canada, the US's largest trading partner, is a national disgrace. Just look at the softwood lumber and mad cow issues...there are many, many more, including Canada's sovereignty over the Northwest Passage. Overall, George W Bush ranks as the worst President in US history, and the American people are starting to realize that.
The only part of the US economy that has shown any real gains at all is the energy sector; specifically, gas and oil. Gas at the pump is up over 200% since Bush became President. I remind people: Why should anyone wonder that gas at the pump is now hovering around $ 3.00 per gallon...you elected a Texas oil man as President !!
Posted August 18, 2006 07:06 PM
James Slater
Changing the spots on a leopard would be easier than changing Bush. The relevant fact about Bushis his lack of curiosity, which means that any opinion other than his own is not only not recognized, but rarely, if ever given in his private councils. Never in the recent history of the presidency has the president encased himself in a unapproachable bubble. Read the biographies of Johnson and Eisenhower and what comes through is their reaching out throughout their presidencies for advice, not only from their own party but from the opposition. Johnson, especially, was torn apart by Vietnam, begging and beseeching the friends he had made in the Senate to help him find a way to end it.
Bush, sipping from his silver spoon, never made the friends n or the alliances. He was exposed to the cronyism of his father's rich friends who paved the way for him to get rich himslef by handing him sinecures that he was not entitled to, other than by birth.
Is it any wonder that Cheney is running the government. He knows the people, knows the lever of powers, and to an unitiate like Bush must seem supremely wise.
Iraq is a disaster, and with present policy? there is no way out except for going out. However, his intransigence and his oft repeated mantra, untrue of course, that it is a "war on terror" is going to come back and haunt him in November, when the US public, supine until now, are going to ask embarassing questions as to how many more US soldiers must die in a hopeless cause, pursued by inept and incompetent leaders,how much miore treasure must be spent before the US goes bust?
Bush never knew, or if he did, he conveniently forgot, that the British washed their hands of Iraq after futilely trying to pacify it for 46 years. Good God, is that how long it is going to take the US?
If Bush's intransigence continues you can bet the ranch on 29 months
Posted August 18, 2006 05:08 PM
D. Burton
There is no way that the president has time to change the public's perception.
He's touted himself as a "war prez'dint" so loudly and so often that that is exactly how he is seen... In fact, by the time the next election rolls around, I'll lay odds that he'll have invaded Iran. I'm sure he's not overly happy with the ceasefire in the Israel/Lebanon conflict as it likely derailed his plans to march toward Iran. I figure that he's trying to goad Iran into action and then use it as an excuse to go in guns a-blazin'. Not that the Head Honcho of Iran isn't a certifiable nut bar, that is. But I have a feeling that that particular fact is just another excuse, like all the excuses he piled up in advance of "liberating" Iraq. So with regard to "having time" to change this perception, I feel he doesn't want to. For some inconceivable reason, he seems to enjoy it.
As for domestic issues... The U.S. is a shambles. To reverse the effect of the last seven years of mismanagement is virtually an impossible feat to achieve before his term runs out. And it won't happen in any regard. The U.S. administration is being run by Cheney and the Oil Companies who are quite happy with the way things are right now. Oil prices are record high, oil company profits are record high, corporate America is flourishing and the average Joe is struggling to make ends meet. While Bush portrays himself as a plain-speaking good ol' boy, fact is that was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and has played to big-business every chance he's had.
You might get the idea that I'm no fan of Bush and you'd be right. In fact, the whole family gives me the willies. In my worst nightmare, the crown is handed to Jeb Bush. So, I hope against hope that GWB won't attempt to change public perception of him for fear that it might work. Because if it does, there's the liklihood that yet another four years of Bush-rule will follow.
Posted August 18, 2006 02:42 PM