Democratic Strategist Robert Weiner: "The Silence Is Deafening" With No National Democratic Ads On Success On Unemployment, Jobs, Economy

WASHINGTON, Oct. 14, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- National Democratic strategist Robert Weiner, who was a Clinton White House spokesman and senior staff for Congressmen Conyers, Rangel, Pepper, and Koch, has been on a mission this week asking, "Where are national Democratic ads on successes including unemployment, jobs, and the economy? In radio interviews on WGUF Florida (The Dave Elliott Show), Labor Radio Pennsylvania (The Rick Smith Show), and an address to Democrats Abroad France, the world's largest Democrats Abroad group, Weiner asserted, "The silence is deafening." Weiner called on the DNC, DSCC, and DCCC immediately to run these ads given the "risk of a wave election against them and losing the Senate.  The Republicans have been better at message."

In his latest statement on the issue, Monday's Rick Smith's Labor Radio show on six Pennsylvania stations, Weiner said:

"The sad thing is Democrats are all silent on our accomplishments. Where is the message? Where are the ads that say we're at half the unemployment we were when Bush left it to Obama? We're at 5.9 versus 10, and by the way it would be a point less if they hadn't blocked the President's jobs bill according to CBO and CRS. We'd be at 4.9 unemployment and we'd have a million more jobs. It's unlike any administration when I worked in Congress where you bipartisan-wise created jobs bills.

"What about the fact that the stock market, even with its tweaks of the past few days, is triple what is was when Obama came in? What about the fact that there are 5 million jobs available last month--the most since 2001? What about the kinds of economic facts that show that Democrats are even better for business because they create jobs? What about the fact that business was saved by the stimulus and troubled assets bills when Obama first came in? Where are the ads that take credit for that, instead of letting Republicans try to trap us with the IRS, ISIS and Ebola?

"Where are our ads--On jobs? On the success of healthcare? On the fact that we are saving Social Security and Medicare and the Republicans want to privatize them? On the fact that Republicans want to do to forced transvaginal ultrasound invasions (which by the way the U.N. calls rape)? And Democrats want to give women health choice and the Republicans are closing clinics?

"Where is the fact that we're trying to increase the minimum wage which has stayed effectively the same for decades—it's actually worth one-third less today than 1968, in real dollars. The budget deficit has fallen by half since Obama took office. We have a comprehensive immigration bill, and don't blame Obama for the fact that he did a temporary hold on the executive action; he has a bill that passed in the Senate, and the House Republicans are blocking it. Obama took out Bin Laden pure and simple. Romney said any other president would have done it-- well, no-- Bush actually had the chance (at Tora Bora), gave the intel away to the Afghanis and the Pakistanis, and they leaked it or screwed it up, whereas Obama kept the secret with our SEALS and we got him. On ISIS and Ebola, just yesterday in one hour I saw on the schedule, he spoke with the President of France and the head of the U.N. working out Ebola airport screening and coalition action against ISIS.

"Where are those messages? We must capitalize on those huge successes. His presidency has been Rooseveltian, but the Republicans would have you believe the guy is inept. That's what they're successfully doing, and they got their polling because the silence is deafening from our side on our successes and what we've accomplished.

"There's a reason. We're so insistent on doing the state-by-state.  Remember the Dean 50-state plan. I had a discussion with Rahm when he was incoming chair of the DCCC. Ricia McMahon, who was head of Clinton for New Hampshire and myself went into Rahm's office, and I said "This is crazy Rahm, we need to have a national message" -- at that point it was the war in Iraq and protecting Social Security --  "We got to have a national message." Then Rahm said, "You're absolutely right," and he said he was planning on doing it.

"He did it and guess what, we took back the House when Rahm did that, but now we're back to state-by-state. We hear 'Don't spend the money on national, spend it only in the state…. give it to local members for individual races...' and it's turned around. The local congresspeople and senators who are running and our candidates are demanding that the money go to them because in their view that's the only way it will be effective -- to which I say, Nonsense. This is the 21st century, and in this day in age people listen and feel and think nationally, as well as "all politics are local." It is both.

"When both Howard Dean with his 50-state strategy and Rahm with his national strategy put it together, they were both right, and they both did their thing, and we won as a result. That's what has to happen here."

Bob added to Democrats Abroad, "The key is national spending by the DNC, DCCC, and DSCC with the national message of successes, and not only give money directly to candidates to do what they want.  The DSCC has a PAC spending the most of anyone – Jon Stuart even made fun of it.  I think it's fantastic we have the means. But the spending is not wise if it does not capitalize nationally on Democratic successes to rebut the Republican message of the-sky-is-falling over fill-in-the-blank. That's why the polling has gone against Democrats and they are at risk of a wave election against them and losing the Senate.  The Republicans have been better at message."

Here are links to the two radio shows:
http://thericksmithshowmedia.com/Interviews/10-13-2014_Bob_Weiner.mp3 
https://soundcloud.com/weinerpublic/robert-weiner-interviewed-on-dave-elliott-show-october-9-2014

Contact: Bob Weiner/Tom Sherman 301-283-0821/cell 202-306-1200 [email protected]

SOURCE Robert Weiner Associates