Dems to Run For Their Political Lives

Run from Washington, that is:

Congress is deadlocked over virtually every major issue still pending this year, including key economic matters such as a detailed federal spending plan and extending Bush-era tax cuts, yet lawmakers still hope to leave Washington by Friday and not return until mid-November.

Chances are they'll approve a stopgap budget to keep the government running, maybe vote on extending the Bush administration tax cuts and call it a day. This desire to punt on the day's biggest issue could be one more reason for voters to turn against incumbents of both parties in November.

"The public is not concerned about the specifics of the process breakdown. They just know things aren't working, either in Congress or the economy, and they want things fixed," said Lee Miringoff, the director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.

Analysts think Republicans have a decent chance to gain the 39 seats the party needs to take control of the House of Representatives, and an outside chance of a net gain of the 10 Senate seats needed to control that chamber. Members of Congress, who returned to Washington on Sept. 13 after taking off most of August and early September, clearly want to return home to fight for their political lives. Last week, Congress produced one major piece of legislation as the House voted, largely along party lines, to send President Barack Obama a small business relief bill. The Senate, however, failed to end debate _ and thus delayed indefinitely _ efforts to revamp some immigration laws and consider the "don't ask, don't tell" policy toward gays in the military. It also postponed consideration of defense policy legislation until after the election.

What the public sees, polls and experts say, is a Congress that's unable to get vital work done at a time when most surveys find that about 60 percent of Americans think the country is on the wrong track.

Passing another Obama spending bill isn't going to help them. The only thing that might give them some relief in November would be passing an extension of the Bush tax cuts, but right now that seems unlikely.