PHILADELPHIA — Vice President Biden implored House Democrats on Friday to quit their griping and embrace a party agenda that, he says, pulled the country from the recession.
“We own it so stand up about it. Stop nitpicking,” Biden told Democrats gathered here for their annual issues retreat. “Let’s talk about what we did, who we are and what we stand for.”
{mosads}The vice president listed a long list of Obama administration policies — including the stimulus bill, the automaker bailout, ObamaCare and Wall Street reform — that he said have led to the recent economic resurgence. And he urged the Democrats to explain the importance of those initiatives to voters for the sake of future policy battles.
“I know we have been a political heavy load to carry,” he said, referring to the low White House approval ratings that have dogged the Democrats. “But embrace us. Support it. We have turned a corner because of the sacrifices that you made. … Let’s not make any apologies for what we did.”
The Democrats are in no enviable spot. They’ve entered the 114th Congress after a disastrous midterm election cycle in which the Republicans won control of the Senate and picked up 13 additional seats in the House, giving the GOP their largest lower-chamber majority in more than 80 years.
Still, the Democrats have been encouraged by a recently surging economy and a spike in President Obama’s approval ratings. And they’ve been buoyed by the troubles facing House GOP leaders, who have struggled this month to rally their members behind several proposals that were expected to unite their conference, including bills to limit abortions, bolster border security and rein in Obama’s executive actions on deportations.
The Democrats have their own divisions, particularly when it comes to the trade pacts being promoted by Obama. But the more prominent divisions dogging the majority Republicans have made the Democrats appear united in contrast. It’s a dynamic that hasn’t been lost on Biden, who said the GOP shouldn’t get credit for the economic recovery.
“Mark my words, the Republican Party is going to try to claim this resurgence. … It’s a bunch of malarky,” Biden told the Democrats.
“But if we don’t speak up … it may stick politically. … These guys are pretty good,” he warned. “This is the Democrat Party’s story. … We can’t let the Republican Party rewrite history.”
Biden’s comments echo those of President Obama, who addressed the Democrats here Thursday evening with a rousing, 20-minute speech in which he urged the lawmakers to defend the party’s values and legislative accomplishments in the face of conservative attacks.
“We need to stand up and go on offense and not be defensive about what we believe in,” Obama said. “That’s why we’re Democrats.”
Obama took shots at GOP leaders for their continued efforts to take apart the Democrats’ healthcare reform law, scale back the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reforms and undo the president’s executive actions halting deportations for millions of illegal immigrants — efforts he vowed to veto if they reach his desk.
Obama also badgered the Republicans over recent GOP vows to address poverty and working-class wage stagnation — issues the Democrats have long-accused the Republicans of ignoring — and he urged Democrats to hold the Republicans’ feet to the fire on those issues.
“I am glad that their rhetoric at least has shifted,” Obama said. “But let’s now make sure that the policies match up with the rhetoric.”