Dems appeal to voter anger

September 19, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Businessman Randy Altschuler had barely won a Republican primary for Congress when New York Democratic Rep. Tim Bishop unleashed a television ad christening him an “outsourcing pioneer” who sent jobs overseas while millions of Americans struggle.

“The company is really about Sri Lanka, the Philippines, wherever we could find the best talent,” Altschuler is shown saying in the commercial, while ominous music plays in the background. In case viewers miss the point, an announcer adds that Altschuler “made millions outsourcing jobs.”

The 39-year-old first-time political candidate stands out for having spoken candidly on camera about the benefit of foreign workers. But with Democrats struggling for political traction on the economy in midterm elections, candidates in all regions of the country are accusing Republicans of having personally sent jobs overseas or at least protecting companies that do.

These attacks come when the public seems increasingly disenchanted with the Democrats’ ability to manage the economy, an issue that pervades the midterm elections.

In a recent AP-GfK survey, 46 percent of those surveyed said they trusted Republicans to do a better job of handling the economy, and 41 percent chose the Democrats. As recently as January, Democrats held a nine-point advantage on the issue, and two years ago, support on the economy helped President Barack Obama win the White House.

But a deep recession, followed by a grudging economic recovery, has left unemployment at just under 10 percent nationally and significantly higher in some areas.

In many parts of the country, “people think their jobs have gone overseas with a lot of basis in fact,” says Steve Murphy, a Democratic campaign consultant.

In Ohio, where joblessness was most recently calculated at 10.3 percent, Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland is wielding a similar club against Republican challenger John Kasich. An ad that started running statewide in late August shows Nilda Ramos of Lorain, Ohio, saying her husband was laid off in 2006 from a job he had held for 22 years at Invacare, a manufacturer of wheelchairs and other medical equipment.

“John Kasich sat on Invacare’s board as a director and signed off on jobs being outsourced and sent to China and Mexico,” she says. “I believe they sent those jobs overseas so they could make more profit.”

Kasich’s spokesman, Rob Nichols, said that with his ad, “Ted Strickland’s hypocrisy is reaching new heights. After using taxpayers’ money to outsource Ohioans’ jobs to El Salvador and twice voting to give China special trade status, he turns around and makes his fourth negative attack ad about these very same things.” The governor is a former member of Congress.