For those Democrats who don’t like Obama’s bill, American Crossroads is here to help. Join Democrats Anonymous today:
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A funny thing happened on the way to passing President Obama's American "Jobs" Act. Nobody wanted to co-sponsor it. Despite Obama's assertion that every Congressional Democrat who attended his campaign speech in Denver supported the bill, not a single one has added their name as a supporter. There are currently no co-sponsors in the House version of the bill, nor the Senate version.
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Where are Obama's Centennial State supporters? Paging Senators Udall and Bennet and Representatives Perlmutter, Polis and DeGette: Your party's President is calling for your support. Where are you?
What's wrong? Is Stimulus II selling as well as Stimulus I succeeded?
This hiding from Democrats and opposition from Republicans caused Obama to hold a press conference this morning, his first in two months, demanding everyone go on the record with their position.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has already responded to Obama's request by making a motion for a vote on the bill in the US Senate on Tuesday. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) didn't have the Democrat votes to pass it, so he blocked the vote. After Obama's press conference, McConnell indicated he wanted to bring the bill back up for a vote today, but Reid plans on blocking it again, still lacking enough Democrat support.
The Republican Caucus in the US Senate seems willing to go on the record, but a senior Democrat strategist told The Washington Post's Chris Cilizza that Democrats just don't have the political capital to spend on the President's behalf. Ouch.
“It’s not a good strategy because the person running out of air most quickly is himself. We’re about a year out from the elections, and the senators are turning to their own races. They don’t have a lot of energy or political capital to spare for the president at this point.”
Do Colorado Democrats have the energy or political capital to spend supporting the bill? None of them have said so far.
What about declared candidates for Congress?
Since Obama has pegged this bill as the bill of 2011, it would seem appropriate to insist any candidate for Congress also weigh in. After all, they are seeking a vote in Congress. If they had one now, how would they use it?