It's definitely going to take Obama's superior conflict management skills to smooth this over. Democrats are not-so-privately fuming over Robert Gibbs' admission on "Meet the Press" this week that Dems could lose the House.
"How could [Gibbs] know what is going on in our districts?" Pelosi told her members in the caucus meeting in the basement of the Capitol Tuesday night. "Some may weigh his words more than others. We have made our disagreement known to the White House."... Pelosi also accused the White House of playing favorites with the Senate, where President Barack Obama served. She said that the White House gives help to Senate candidates while making damaging comments about House Democrats' chances in November.
But senior Democratic officials on Capitol Hill said it's one thing for a pundit to state the obvious about the state of play in the election and quite another for a top White House official to offer an assessment that may depress the party's base just as officials hope to start revving liberals up. "Members were hot - hot, hot, hot," one senior Democratic official told CNN about the private meeting Tuesday where House Democrats directed their anger at Dan Turton, a White House aide who attended the session... The fear now among some top Democrats, in the words of one top party official, is that the Gibbs comments will "give the Republicans a big fundraising boost" as perception builds that Democrats are in even deeper trouble than already expected.
For a party relying on rallying its base to prevent a GOP wave, the message that the House could already be gone coming from the top of the Democratic Party— from the right-hand man of the guy who's supposed to inspire all these Democrats ala 2008—is not helpful, even if it is obvious.
Steny Hoyer and other Dems disagreed with Gibbs' assessment more politely in public.
"Do I think he’s right in that there are enough seats in play? Probably close,” Hoyer said, “The fact that they’re in play does not mean by any stretch of the imagination that I think we’re going to lose the House.”
At the White House briefing today, Gibbs said he hasn't spoken to Pelosi about his "Meet the Press" appearance but would if given the opportunity. He described their relationship as "cordial."
Funny, that's the same word Gov. Jan Brewer always uses to describe conversations with the administration officials who are suing her. Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming about Republican infighting.