WASHINGTON — House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Tuesday that Democrats will not lose control of the House of Representatives to Republicans as a result of the November elections.
“Are there enough seats in play? Probably close,” Hoyer said. “The fact that they’re in play does not mean by any stretch of the imagination that we will lose the House. I don’t think we will lose the House.”
Hoyer’s comments followed remarks Sunday on “Meet the Press” by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, who said “there’s no doubt there are enough seats in play that could cause Republicans to gain control” following the midterm elections.
“There’s no doubt about that. This will depend on strong campaigns by Democrats. And again, I think we’ve got to take the issues to them. You know, are — do you want to put in to the speakership of the House a guy who thinks that the financial calamity is, is tantamount to an ant?” he asked, a reference to House Minority Leader John Boeher of Ohio. He suggested that the financial reform measure is an overreaction and seemed to compare it to “killing an ant with a nuclear weapon.”
A Washington Post-ABC poll released Tuesday found that nearly six of every 10 Americans no longer trust President Barack Obama’s decision-making. According to the poll, 73 percent had just some or no confidence in congressional Republicans to make the right decisions for the country and, by a 67 percent to 32 percent margin, the public held the same negative view of Democrats.
“I am not happy about the poll,” Hoyer said. “Americans are still angry. The economy is not working the way we would like. We agree with that [but it was the] Bush policies…that resulted in the worst economy of almost every American’s life.”
Hoyer pointed to what he called the economic successes of the Clinton administration and the perceived failures among Democrats of Republican policies of the last decade as something voters should consider.
“The policies in the ’90s renounced by Republicans succeeded and the policies Republicans still talk about demonstratively failed,” Hoyer said. “We have to make that argument and say we acted and acted decisively and it’s made a difference.”