Rep. Weiner urges Dems to drop 'defensive crouch' in elections

Democrats need to abandon their "defensive crouch" in the elections, one of their liberal leaders asserted Wednesday.

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) encouraged his party to go more on the offensive, with elections less than eight weeks away.

"We've got to get out of our defensive crouch here, and start to talk about some of the things that were accomplished," Weiner said on "Imus in the Morning" on the Fox Business Network. "And realize that, look, we're going to have a choice in November: [The] Republican Party has basically said they're going to repeal a lot of these things."

Democratic leaders have, to an extent, been waging an offensive. President Obama is set to go after House GOP leader John Boehner (Ohio) during a speech in Cleveland Wednesday afternoon on the economy, and Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tim Kaine will similarly blast Republicans during a speech Wednesday in Philadelphia.

But House leaders have also exhorted the president and other Democrats to get even more active in their efforts to protect the House and Senate majorities. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), urged Obama last week to get "turbocharged" for candidates.

The DCCC, led by other House leaders, has also leaned on members from safe districts to pay dues to the committee in order to help out with other lawmakers' reelection campaigns.

Weiner, who'd led a bloc of liberal Democrats during the pivotal healthcare reform battle earlier this year, acknowledged that he was "worried" about the health of Democrats' majorities going into November's elections.

"It takes a great man to build a barn, but any jackass can kick it down," Weiner said.