Veteran newsman Brit Hume says Democrats are in “fairly serious trouble” because unemployment–the most important economic indicator in political terms–is likely to remain above 10 percent through 2010. Speaking at a Dallas luncheon today, the senior political commentator for FOX News (pictured) also said most Americans are more concerned with budget deficits than with reforming health care, especially after passage of the “bloated, reckless,” $787 billion stimulus bill. While President Obama has bet the ranch on health reform, Hume said, the public believes the reform tab will only worsen the deficit at a time when they’re “really worried about it.”
The president has pressed so hard on health care–and on other initiatives like climate-change legislation–because he knows that, with next year’s elections looming, it’s now or never, the newsman said. So, “what will President Obama do if he and his party suffer major losses next year?” Hume asked. He doubts the “quite liberal” president will move to the right, as Bill Clinton did after Democrats were rousted in the 1994 elections, but “that’s a decision [Obama] will face,” he said. Hume was guest speaker at the Salvation Army’s annual Doing the Most Good luncheon at the Anatole.
