Criticism of President Barack
Obama's signature healthcare law by a top Senate Democrat this week laid
bare post-election tensions that could pose challenges for the party in
upcoming fights with Republicans over taxes, energy and immigration.
In
a high-profile speech on Tuesday dissecting Democrats' losses in this
month's midterm elections, Charles Schumer, the No. 3 Senate Democrat,
listed "a cascade of issues" botched by the White House, starting with
Obama's push for healthcare reforms soon after he took office in 2009.
Later
on Tuesday, the White House took the unusual step of publicly pledging
to veto a deal on tax breaks that Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid
was trying to hammer out with Republicans in the House of
Representatives.
"There is
clearly a lot of unhappiness and a lot of mistrust that exists between
the president and his congressional party," said Ross Baker, political
scientist at Rutgers University.
Democrats
will cede control of the Senate to Republicans in the New Year after
heavy losses in the Nov. 4 elections that also gave the Republicans an
increased majority in the House.
Obama,
whose low approval ratings were seen as a drag on his party in the
elections, may see support waver from some Democrats on an energy issue -
the proposed Keystone XL pipeline to carry oil from Canada's oil sands
to be processed on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Democrats in states where voters
want pipeline will face a dilemma over whether to break ranks with
Obama and back Republican legislation aimed at forcing the project
through.
Republicans will
also try to thwart the executive action on immigration that Obama
announced last week and that grants temporary relief from deportation
for millions of immigrants who are living in the United States without
the right papers.
Several Democratic senators have
been critical of Obama for taking executive action rather than letting
Congress take the lead on the issue. If six or seven joined Republicans,
they could block Obama's action, forcing a veto.
'POST-DISASTER SYNDROME'
In
some ways, Schumer's remarks were typical of the kind of "post-disaster
syndrome" of finger-pointing common after election losses, Baker said.
"Typically,
when a political party has suffered an electoral debacle, one of the
first things they do is shoot the survivors," he said.
According
to Schumer, the party lost because the White House messed up on "a
cascade of issues," starting with the healthcare reform push in 2009, at
a time when Americans were more preoccupied with the recession.
Also
on Schumer's list of White House errors: the rollout of insurance
marketplaces, fixing wait lists for veterans' hospitals, dealing with
the first case of Ebola in the United States, and even security at the
White House itself.
His remarks illustrated how some Democrats are trying to start to move apart and away from Obama.
"At
this point now, Obama is not running for president again," said Matthew
Green, associate professor of politics at the Catholic University of
America. "But Democrats in the Senate are, and they want to get back the
majority at some point. They are going to be thinking about, what can
we say and do to help ourselves in next election cycle?" Green said.
Former Obama aides dismissed Schumer's comments as playing politics.
"Funny,
I don't remember Chuck Schumer giving that advice when he was privately
and publicly championing the Affordable Care Act in 2010," said Jon
Favreau, a former White House speechwriter, on Twitter.
"So
what exactly does Chuck Schumer believe was the error? Does he believe
that the goal of winning office is winning office?" said Jon Lovett,
another former Obama aide.
Top House Democrat Nancy Pelosi also rebuked Schumer, saying in a statement, "We come here to do a job, not keep a job."
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