Rep. Rosa DeLauro’s husband, pollster Stan Greenberg, was the featured speaker (i.e. pep rally director) at Tuesday’s House Democratic Caucus meeting.
His task? Trying to keep any more Democrats from jumping ship on the looming question of whether to let the high-end Bush tax cuts expire at the end of this year.
Greenberg’s poll conclude that his wife’s position on this politically dicey question is not just good policy, as DeLauro argues, but it’s also good politics; his survey indicates that letting the high-end breaks lapse is popular among independents-those critical swing voters who could determine whether Democrats maintain control of the House after November, or not.
Greenberg’s talk, given behind closed doors at the Democrats’ weekly strategy session, was likely targeted to still wavering House Democrats, as leaders scramble to figure out how to move forward on this issue. It’s unlikely his presentation carried a lot of sway with lawmakers like Jim Himes, Connecticut’s 4th District Democrat who has said he will support extending all the Bush-era breaks, even for those making more than $200,000. Himes declined to comment on the private session.