House Democrats can’t figure out why Obama won’t talk to them | TheHill


House Democrats are frustrated with what they say is a lack of election-year communication from the White House.

The lawmakers say it’s difficult to defend President Obama from GOP attacks when he doesn't confer with his allies about his strategy and intentions.
Because he is the PRESIDENT

Some are scratching their heads why, after nearly six years in office and a reshuffling of his legislative affairs team, Obama's working relationship with Congress remains prickly.

“It's hard for us to fathom; I mean, is it just lack of full staffing and resources? [Is it] professional commitment? Is it a disdain for the legislative branch? I mean, what is it?” asked Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.). “People like me want to be allies – I mean, I am an ally. So work with us, reach out to us; you know, we're not the enemy.”

Connolly emphasized that he has "no complaints" with the administration's outreach when it comes to logistics and political operations. But as a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, he's long-been frustrated by the White House’s approach to "the bread-and-butter of congressional relations and the policy front."
“That’s made our jobs harder,” he said.

Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, lamented what he characterized as a history of the White House dropping its plans on congressional Democrats without warning.

“Not being consulted ahead of time – that just makes people crazy,” Grijalva said. “Let us know ahead of time. Call us in when you're developing something so we can give you our ground-level reality check about how this is going to work.”

Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) likened the relationship between presidents and their Capitol Hill allies to that between quarterbacks and the offensive linemen charged with protecting them. Some quarterbacks, he said, simply manage that alliance better than others.

“Certainly, Bill Clinton saw us as his offensive line and so he attended to the nurturing of his offensive line,” Moran said. “And I don't think this president, this quarterback, invests all that much time and effort into the care and feeding of his offensive line.

“You can still win,” Moran added. “It just makes it a little more difficult.”

It's one of Washington's worst-kept secrets that many Democrats have, for years, been frustrated by what they consider a lackluster communications operation between Obama and his allies on Capitol Hill.

There was little warning, for instance, when Obama proposed a cut to Social Security benefits as part of his 2014 budget proposal – a provision designed to entice GOP leaders to back a sweeping deficit deal, but which also infuriated liberal Democrats in and out of Congress.

More recently, the administration's message on the southern border crisis emerged bearing mixed signals about what new powers Obama was seeking to expedite the deportation of unaccompanied migrant kids. Amid the confusion, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Democrats were prepared to swallow changes to a 2008 human trafficking law in return for the border funding – a position she quickly reversed following an outcry from immigrant rights advocates wary of eroding the legal protections for those kids.

Pelosi has long-defended the White House's communications efforts. Still, even the ever-loyal Democratic leader recently urged the administration to bolster its congressional outreach in the face of widespread criticism from allies.

“While I disagree with the characterization [that Obama is too aloof], if that is the impression people have, then communication has to be stepped up,” she said during a July 22 appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe” program.

Democrats were up in arms last fall after being blindsided by the failures plaguing the ObamaCare web site. Those problems largely killed the political momentum the party had gained during October's government shutdown – a frantic stretch when Democrats thought they had good odds of winning back the House – and prompted widespread finger-pointing at the White House.

Obama quickly reshuffled his team in response: Katie Beirne Fallon, a well-known former staffer to Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), was tapped in December to head the legislative affairs office; Miguel Rodriguez, who had raised eyebrows in both parties for his lack of Capitol Hill connections, was nudged into the private sector.

Obama also brought in John Podesta, Clinton's former chief of staff, to advise the White House and ease Democratic fears ahead of November's mid-terms.

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