Congress Ends Year By Approving Disappointing Budget
As the year comes to a close, Congress has been working to approve a budget for the 2008 fiscal year, and the final result was a disappointment for Democrats. On Wednesday, the House made its final vote to approve the budget as many Democrats voted against the bill, with a vote of 272-142. Earlier in the week, the House approved a budget that did not include funding for the war in Iraq, but these funds were added when the bill went to the Senate. The end result is a budget that provides an unrestricted $70 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through next spring.

This bill concludes a difficult year for Democrats in Congress. Consistently falling short of a two-thirds majority needed to override a presidential veto, Congress has failed to reach many of the goals set after Democrats' electoral victory in 2006. In addition, some Democrats have sided with Republicans on difficult issues, like the war in Iraq. Russ Feingold, the Democratic Senator from Wisconsin, put it well when he said, “Until Democrats stand together, it's going to be difficult to draw Republicans to our side.”

Democratic leaders continue to offer a hopeful perspective for next year, but it is clear that we need to demand change with the 2008 election. With the current trends in presidential preference (see the newest polling data below), we are hopeful that a Democrat will be in the White House. Even so, it remains essential that progressive Democrats be elected to the House and Senate, so that the legislation that reaches the next president's desk reflects real Democratic values. The only way to do this is to support candidates like those that DAPAC endorses.

Latest Presidential and Congressional Polls Show Continuing Democratic Strength
In polling data released by Gallup on Wednesday, Democrats remain in the lead in head-to-head presidential match-ups. This national poll pitted frontrunners against each other, and the results were:

Clinton 49%
Giuliani 48%

Obama 51%
Giuliani 45%

Clinton 53%
Huckabee 44%

Obama 53%
Huckabee 42%

Clinton 52%
Romney 46%

Obama 57%
Romney 39%

The poll also explored respondents' Congressional preferences. It asked: If the elections for Congress were being held today, which party's candidate would you vote for in your congressional district? Nationally, 53% of registered voters chose the Democratic candidate, and 40% chose the Republican.