ST. LOUIS • Vice President Joe Biden on Friday assured Democrats from around the country that the party would retain its hold on the House and Senate in the upcoming midterm elections.
"To quote a Missourian," Biden said, "the reports of the death of the Democratic Party have been greatly exaggerated."
Death, no. Impending losses? Stay tuned.
Even as Biden and others at the Democratic National Committee's summer meeting at Union Station touted legislative achievements, the vice president's comments reflect an anxiety that the sluggish economy will make it difficult for Democrats to replicate their 2008 victories this fall.
But that doesn't mean they can't attempt to recycle some of the same strategies.
Amid lagging popularity in key states such as Missouri — where the president's low poll numbers are dragging down the party's Senate candidate — Democrats unveiled a new television ad featuring George W. Bush, whom they harangued to great success two years ago.
The plan for a besieged Democratic Party: Stick with what works, even if laying blame for the current economic woes on the previous White House regime could feel stale.
"Basically, the last administration had a Ponzi scheme, masquerading as a vision," Biden said Friday. "Before we turned on our computers in the West Wing, we inherited an economy that was shrinking 7 percent."
Biden accused Republicans of "offering more of the past, but on steroids."
But even some of the party faithful assembled in St. Louis wondered whether the pitch will resonate with voters.
"No, they don't want to hear it," said Bill Davis, a Democratic National Committee member from Minneapolis attending this week's meeting. "But, yes, it's a reality."
Democrats cannot wave a "magic wand" to fix the economy, much as they, and Americans, would like them to, Davis said.
"People are looking for quick results and quick answers for very entrenched problems," Davis said.
The economy is not the only concern facing Democrats heading into the Nov. 2 midterms. The party is weathering a palatable enthusiasm gap that is a long way from the excitement generated by Barack Obama's candidacy.
Look no further than the rows of empty chairs Friday at Biden's appearance, even though it was free and open to the public. During a campaign stop here in Oct. 2008, Obama attracted more than 80,000 supporters to the Gateway Arch.
"We can say it's not our fault. 'It's the economy.' We can be in a defensive crouch. Or we can remember what it felt like this time two years ago," said U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, who spoke after Biden at Friday's party meeting. "We need to remember what that feels like — we need to remember that sense of purpose."
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, a good friend of McCaskill's, offered a sterner warning about the significance of the midterms.
"We are in the fight of our lives," Sebelius, the former governor of Kansas, said. "Our job as Democrats is pretty clear — we have 75 days to fight a critical battle."
In addition to resurrecting criticism of the past administration, Democrats are hoping that Republican candidates with views that some consider extreme — such as Kentucky Senate hopeful Rand Paul, whose comments on the Civil Rights Act have attracted scrutiny — will keep their base motivated.
"The more Republicans put up candidates who are really pledging extreme things like privatizing Social Security, the easier it gets to make the case," for Democrats, party Chairman Tim Kaine said in an interview earlier in the week.
On Friday, Biden suggested the GOP had strayed from the party's traditional values.
"I'm going to get into trouble for saying this," Biden said. "This ain't your father's Republican Party. This is the Republican Tea Party."
Republicans shot back by accusing Biden and Obama, who is on vacation this week in Martha's Vineyard, of being "completely out of touch with the people of Missouri."
"Joe Biden is still desperately trying to convince Democrats that the economy is on the right track," Republican National Committee spokesman Bill Riggs said in a statement.
Republicans in Missouri are attempting to tie Democratic Senate candidate Robin Carnahan to the Obama administration, though Democratic Party officials meeting in St. Louis this week appeared wary of helping their cause.
After an appearance Carnahan made with Obama last month became fodder for a television commercial from her Republican rival Roy Blunt, party leaders at Friday's meeting barely mentioned her name during the proceedings.
Although Carnahan did not participate in the event, she did benefit from a fundraiser hosted by Donna Brazile, a DNC official who managed Al Gore's presidential campaign in 2000.
Local Democratic officials who attended this week's party meeting seemed less concerned with Carnahan than with the city's prospects of hosting the 2012 Democratic convention.
St. Louis is one of four finalists for the presidential nominating convention. That gathering would dwarf this week's event, in which 400 or so officials mostly took care of party business, such as regional caucus meetings and bylaw changes.
Even if St. Louis made a positive impression on party officials this week, it's unlikely to carry much influence.
A Democratic scout team already visited St. Louis, assessing the city's technical ability — hotel space, venues, transportation —to host the event. The key decision —whether St. Louis makes sense, politically, for the party — will be made by Kaine and others in the White House brain trust.
St. Louis Democrats were also discouraged from speaking about the convention competition when they addressed delegates at Union Station, a prohibition they danced around.
"I'm not supposed to talk about the DNC 2012 — and I'm not going to," said St. Louis County Executive Charlie A. Dooley, who then proceeded to brag about the city's parks and zoo.
McCaskill, whose tight relationship with the West Wing perhaps offers her greater latitude, was more direct.
"If you think you're having fun now," McCaskill said to DNC members on Friday, "imagine how much fun you're going to be having here in 2012."
