A.B. Stoddard

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told us all we needed to know this week about the divide that threatens the Democratic Party's majorities in next year's midterm elections.

"We got walloped," said Warner, a former governor of Virginia, about Democrats losing both gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia, in his home state by 17 points.

Sarah Palin couldn't deliver New York's 23rd district for Republicans with her endorsement of Conservative third-party candidate Doug Hoffman, but candidates across the country are still scared of the power of Palin, Tea Parties and the Club for Growth combined.

The morning after Hoffman went down and a Democrat was elected in NY-23 for the first time since 1870, Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) got to work soliciting an endorsement from Palin for his campaign to win President Barack Obama's old Senate seat next year.

The Hill's A.B. Stoddard and Democratic strategist Chris Kofinis consider what the future will hold for the Democratic agenda on Capitol Hill and in the White House after the 2009 elections if the majority party starts slipping in numbers.

Looks like the Democrats are facing a tough night tomorrow; they could lose both gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia and the special election in New York's 23rd district. While they will be able to credibly explain away each loss, those explanations will drown in the big story of a GOP rout and the foreboding the Democratic Party should feel about next year's midterm elections.

There is much to ponder today — an escalation in Afghanistan, the disaster that is Pakistan, elections Tuesday that could hit Democrats hard and historic healthcare reform hanging in the balance.

But I am going with Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.). I know he has had too much press and that you have already read too much about him this week, but I want you to know that someone is fighting back against the weeping, offensive showman who represents the 8th district of Florida.

The Hill's A.B. Stoddard answers a viewer question about congressional term limits and looks at how Tea Party Republicans and other third-party candidates may help Democrats in several upcoming elections.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), a 2012 presidential prospect, has stepped into the fray and endorsed the third-party candidate in NY-23, leaving former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) all by his lonesome in the GOP establishment. 

Doug Hoffman, who is running against Democrat Bill Owens and liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava, has now earned the endorsements of Pawlenty, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) and former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas). Scozzafava, a State Assemblywoman, supports abortion rights, card-check for unions and same-sex marriage.

ABC News is now reporting that the Senate has 60 votes for a public healthcare option. In my column Thursday, I noted that it had suddenly burst back to life against great odds, with the House poised to pass a version of it and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) considering including it in the merged bill he drafts from the marks produced by the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate HELP Committee.

Have you heard about the "doctors fix"? The fix is in for the doctors to be spared their pay cuts, but will the American Medical Association commit its support to healthcare reform, as Democrats are requesting in return?

Check on the details in a report by Alexander Bolton in our paper, and see why Democrats are set to embrace another $250 billion of deficit spending on behalf of doctors. Despite a projected $1.4 trillion deficit that is making Democrats unpopular and Republicans rally, Senate Democrats reportedly told several doctors groups last week they would halt $248 billion in cuts mandated by a 1997 law. The bill to spare physicians the scheduled cuts isn't paid for with tax increases or spending cuts.

Yes, the Senate Finance Committee passed its healthcare reform bill out of committee. And though it was considered something akin to the Seven Wonders, key questions remain about cutting costs.
 
Any bill that Democrats pass that is perceived by the public as a tax increase will likely bring political heat. Any bill that also spends a lot in subsidies while mandating coverage but failing to cover enough people will also test the party's popularity. Any bill that spends, taxes, fails to insure enough people and then doesn't cuts healthcare costs could spell disaster.