Clinton pollster Doug Schoen has advice for the Obama administration (advice that, according to other Democrats, he cannot take, since passing healthcare “changed the Party forever”):

The independent swing voters who hold the fate of the Democratic Party in their hands are looking for candidates and parties that champion fiscal discipline, limited government, deficit reduction and a free market, pro-growth agenda. They respect leadership that bucks the Washington establishment and the special interests.

Above all else, these swing voters will not tolerate any lack of focus on the most pressing economic concerns: reigniting the economy and creating jobs while simultaneously slashing the deficit and exhibiting fiscal discipline. Some say these are mutually exclusive objectives. They are not.

I should know. When I first met with former President Bill Clinton privately in late 1994, jobs and the deficit were major concerns. In the aftermath of that year’s devastating mid-term elections when the Republicans gained control of Congress for the first time since 1954, I emphasized that unless Clinton simultaneously stressed fiscal discipline and economic growth, he simply could not be reelected in 1996.

By adopting a bold new agenda that included a balanced budget, frank acknowledgment of the limits of government, welfare reform, as well as the protection of key social programs, we were able to win a decisive victory over former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole in 1996. Without that fundamental repositioning, Clinton would almost certainly have lost.

While the circumstances are different, the electorate now wants the same things that it wanted back then. The American people, exhausted and demoralized by a sluggish economy, recognize that the stimulus package, as currently crafted and implemented, has at best produced short-term results through subsidization of the public sector. And they are increasingly uneasy about rising deficits, which remain the independent voter’s touchstone.

The left-wing economists urging Obama to ignore the latter concern, and pour more taxpayer money into the economy now, regardless of the impact on the deficits, are prescribing electoral suicide. Obama needs a robust, fast-acting job-creation strategy that doesn’t throw fiscal responsibility to the wind.

Yeah, right. It is certainly easy to see President Clinton taking Schoen’s advice. It fit the man politically and emotionally. By contrast, would a man as rigid and ideological as Obama reverse course for others to win their elections (remember how he dressed down Blanche Lincoln)?

This entry was posted on Monday, July 12th, 2010 at 6:13 am and is filed under business, Democrats, General, Polling, Republicans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.