The great recasting has begun. What does a Republican victory — a whole slew of them, actually, in states both red and blue — mean for the Democratic Party? In the collective brain pan of the Democratic National Committee, not much.
“Democrats knew that 2010 would be an uphill battle for three reasons,” reads a memo that the DNC sent its allies early this morning. Anticipating a drubbing, the committee’s talking points suggest that there’s nothing out of the ordinary about today’s likely Republican victory:
“The party of the president historically loses seats in midterm elections; Too many people are looking for work or struggling to get by as a result of eight years of irresponsible economic policies (and despite creating more private sector jobs in the last eight months than President Bush did in 8 years); the sheer number of seats we’re defending this year as a result of the successes of 2006 and 2008, including 49 Democratic representatives on the ballot this year whose districts John McCain won in 2008.”
The above spin may help Dems keep a brave face during today’s cable spots, when the party’s leaders will no doubt be pressed to admit that high spending and a failed stimulus have done little to alleviate chronically high unemployment.
The memo also posits that “[a]s recently as six weeks ago, there were predictions that Democrats would lose the House, the Senate and all of the major governorships. Now, we are competitive on all three fronts.”
Meanwhile, pollsters from Rasmussen to Gallup are debating whether the Republican tidal wave will actually be a tsunami.
The memo concludes with a tepid cri du coeur: “We’re going to keep working hard to get out the vote until the last polls close, and I am confident that we can hold onto the Senate, hold onto the House, and win important races all across the country.”