Vice President Joe Biden said on Friday “the hard lifting” is done for the year and now it is time for Democrats to campaign on their achievements ahead of November 2 congressional elections.Biden spoke at a fund-raising event in Columbia, South Carolina, for Democratic Representative John Spratt’s re-election campaign.
Democrats are trying to prevent Republicans from regaining control of Congress in the November 2 elections amid a weak U.S. economy and a stubbornly high 9.5 percent nationwide unemployment rate.Legislative achievements by President Barack Obama and the congressional Democrats so far have not led to a big vote of confidence from Americans in their leadership.A CNN-Opinion Research poll released on Friday said 42 percent of Americans approve of Obama’s handling of the U.S. economy, compared to 57 percent who disapprove.
Biden, who was a U.S. senator from Delaware for 36 years from 1973 to 2009 until he became vice president, said Democrats in the next three months need to emphasize the tough decisions they have had to make.Since taking office 18 months ago, Obama has pushed through Congress an $862 billion economic stimulus plan, bailed out banks and auto companies, and overhauled the U.S. healthcare system and financial regulations.
“Here’s the problem — we’ve been working so hard to get these major new building blocks laid down,” Biden said. “They are so big, so heavy, that the American people don’t understand what’s in it for them yet.””Now that the hard lifting is done, we’re going to spend the next 90 days going out explaining to people exactly what it means to them,” Biden said.
All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for grabs in the November elections and 37 Senate seats. Democrats control both chambers.Analysts believe enough House seats are in play that Republicans could conceivably win the House while falling short of controlling the Senate.
Biden said it is understandable that many Americans are angry about the economy. Once voters pay attention to Republican policies, he said, Democrats will see improved prospects.”They don’t want to think about anything other than what’s made them mad,” he said.Eventually Americans will “have to look at the alternatives and not just be generically angry,” said Biden.(Reuters)
Santosamaru 