WASHINGTON — Democratic strategist Donna Brazile told NAFCU members that she is optimistic that some of the political bickering in Washington will give way to a search for solutions.
"We don't have to be rocket scientists," she said in her keynote address to NAFCU's Congressional Caucus. "We just have to put our country first."
Brazile, who is a commentator on ABC and CNN, predicted that politicians would absorb the message of the recent protests and work toward dealing with large problems such as health care.
"Deep down inside, we're going to get this right and improve our great country. We'll be called the generation that moved America forward," she said.
Brazile quipped that "I was not born a liberal, but I play one on television." Her political leanings didn't stop her from criticizing President Obama for being too timid when dealing with Congress. She said Obama is too eager to be liked and not to offend people and he needs to be more aggressive if he wants to achieve his legislative goals.
She also criticized political consultants for tactics that produce a more divided electorate.
"In our hunger to win, we divided the electorate," she said.
Brazile, who managed Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign, linked two seemingly unrelated events in the headlines: Former Sen. John Edwards's possible admission that he fathered a baby out of wedlock and Obama's recent announcement that he was changing the country's missile deployment strategy in Europe.
"I woke up to read about missile defense and about John Edwards fathering a baby. Guess he had no missile defense," she said.
Brazile also noted she is a proud member of Wright Patman Congressional Federal Credit Union because of its high rates on CDs.
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