How Lame Are House Democrats? Glad You Asked...

Check out this story from The Politico:

House Democrats are launching a major message push this week in an attempt to reverse their sagging approval ratings as Congress tackles a heavy legislative docket before the end of the year.

Late last week, the top aides to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) and Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) called a mandatory meeting for top Democratic staff on Monday afternoon to announce "a major member-driven message campaign" the leadership aides hope to sustain through the end of the year.

This comes on the heels of a renewed drive by Pelosi herself this fall to tout Democratic achievements so far this year in the face of polling that indicates support is slipping for the new majority.

Pelosi's Chief of Staff John Lawrence, Hoyer's Chief of Staff Terry Lierman and Clyburn's Chief of Staff Yelberton Watkins sent a joint e-mail late Friday afternoon asking all chiefs of staff, legislative directors, communications directors and press secretaries for both members and committees to meet at 1 p.m. Monday in the spacious Ways and Means hearing room in the Longworth House Office Building.

"We will discuss a major member-driven message campaign that the New Direction Congress will be carrying out in the coming weeks," the aides wrote in an e-mail.

There will also be plenty of pizza.

I especially like the zinger at the end from whichever Republican staffer said this:

"This could be the biggest crisis communications meeting ever assembled, but they're going to need a lot more than 800 staffers and 200 pizzas to convince the American people that the 'new direction' Congress has accomplished something in the last ten months," a Republican leadership aide said. "The only thing that has taken a new direction is Congress’ approval ratings."

But check out what they are going to focus on:

This outreach drive has a message component focusing on legislation the new majority has already passed - even those bills President Bush has vetoed - and a strategic component that directs members to do some specific things - convene town hall meetings, reach out to local reporters, update their websites, etc - to spread the message back home about what Democrats have done and still hope to do during the remaining months of this year.

I especially like the fact that Democrats think the American people care about stuff that they can't get passed in to law. That is going to demonstrate just how effective the Democrats really are...and I'll love every minute of that!

House Democrats will not turn around these abyssmal poll numbers by throwing a pizza party for staffers and trying to package a PR campaign, but that won't stop them from trying...