Despite sweeping Democratic successes in the past two national elections, increasing unemployment and President Barack Obama’s slipping support could lead to double-digit losses for the party in next year’s congressional races and may even threaten their control of the House of Representatives.
Fifty-four new Democrats were swept into the House in 2006 and 2008, helping the party claim a decisive majority as voters soured on a Republican president and embraced Obama’s message of hope and change.
Many of the new Democrats are in districts carried by Republican Sen. John McCain in last year’s presidential contest; others are in traditional swing districts that have proved tough for either party to hold.
From New Hampshire to Nevada, House Democrats also will be forced to defend votes on Obama’s massive $787-billion economic recovery package and on energy legislation viewed by many as a job killer in an already weak economy.
Add to that the absence of Obama from the top of the ticket, which could reduce turnout among blacks, liberals and young people, and the likelihood of a highly motivated Republican base confused by the president’s proposed health care plan and angry at what they consider reckless spending and high debt.
Taken together, it could be the most toxic environment for Democrats since 1994, when the party lost 34 House incumbents and 54 seats altogether. Democrats have a 256-1 78 edge in the House, with one vacancy Republicans would have to pickup 40 seats to regain control.
“When you have big sweeps as Democrats did in 2006 and 2008, inevitably some we candidates get elected. And when the environment gets even moderately challenging, a number of them are going to lose,” said Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College in California.
Since the mid19th century, the party that controls the White House has lost seats in virtually every midterm election. The exceptions were in 1934, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt navigated the Great Depression, and in 2002, after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, strengthened George W. Bush’s image as a leader.
With history as a guide, Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen, who heads his party’s House campaign committee, said he had warned colleagues to be prepared for an exceptionally challenging environment going into 2010.
But Van Hollen said voters would make their choices on the strength of the national economy and would reward Democrats for working aggressively to improve it.