Rep. Israel heads Dems effort to win House

As head of the campaign committee to win back the U.S. House for Democrats, Rep. Steve Israel is making a bet the tea party will keep shaking up Washington -- and alienating independents.

After inspiring a Republican sweep in elections last year, the tea party and its congressional backers are turning off independents, new polls have found, and Israel wants to drive the point home to voters.

"Most Americans have a huge sense of buyer's remorse because tea party Republicans have just gone so far," he said. "My job is to offer sensible alternatives to that kind of extremism," he said.

The tea party has emboldened conservative House GOP members.

They voted for a plan to restructure Medicare into a voucher program. They nearly shut down the government over 2011 spending. And under tea party threats to let the United States default, they forced President Barack Obama to agree to $38 billion in cuts last spring and an additional $2.5 trillion in reductions over the next decade, without getting increases in taxes or other revenues to pay down the deficit.

But the tea party's appeal has slipped since the messy Washington struggle over the debt ceiling, three new polls show.

A Pew Research Center poll found negative view of tea party allies in Congress rose from 18 percent in January to 29 percent this month. A Gallup Poll found that now more people identify themselves as strong opponents than supporters of the tea party, a reversal from February.

And a New York Times/CBS poll found 40 percent have a negative view of the tea party, up from just 18 percent in April 2010.

That shift in the public's view of the tea party, and Israel's twist in tactics in trying to win the House for Democrats, comes during a tumultuous year in which Israel has undergone a transformation professionally and politically.

'Not . . . for the fainthearted'

After Democrats lost a net 62 seats and the House majority last November, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) named Israel, 53, to head the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

That moved the former public relations executive and six-term Dix Hills congressman into the House Democratic leadership with one of the toughest jobs.

Pelosi picked Israel because he knows the suburbs where Democrats must win.

But he acknowledged that can be tough for a party that wants taxes to increase for those making more than $250,000 as a couple, as many on Long Island and in other suburbs do. "It's not a job for the fainthearted," Israel said.

With the job, Israel gained prestige, appearances on Sunday morning news shows and a seat at the table with leadership. But now he also has longer days, more responsibility and pressure to win.

"It's like having two full-time jobs," said former Rep. Thomas Reynolds (R-Buffalo), who chaired the GOP's House campaign from 2005 to 2008. "Every minute is precious, from early morning to late at night."

Being part of leadership also brings tasks that "come with the turf," said Reynolds, such as when Israel called on Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Forest Hills) and Rep. David Wu (D-Ore.) to quit amid sex scandals.

"He's become very thoughtful. He's become perfectly circumspect," said Israel's mentor, former Suffolk County Executive Patrick Halpin.

Eight months into the job, Israel said in an interview Friday that he has made significant strides -- a view Reynolds backed.

"I believe we're on a path to take the House back," Israel said. "But I'm clear-eyed and realistic. It's too early to tell."

Mix of success and hurdles

When he started, Israel said, the committee was $20 million in debt. It now owes less than $5 million and has $7.4 million in cash. That still lags the GOP House campaign's smaller $3.5-million debt and bigger $11 million in cash, records show.

At the start he had to win 25 seats to regain House control. Now he needs 24, since Democrat Kathy Hochul's surprise win in a May special election in a traditionally Republican western New York district.

He's keeping an eye on next month's special election to replace Weiner in Queens. "We need to have 60 seats in play, and we now have over 60 candidates," he said.

Halpin said the low expectations Israel faced when he first came into the job have now risen. But Israel has had rough spots as well.

He complained Obama stepped on his message when the president put the seniors' health program on the bargaining block in debt limit talks.

He had to scold fellow Democrats for failing to give money to the House campaign.

And he faces three hurdles, Reynolds said, in next year's elections: economic uncertainty, the free flow of corporate and union money into independent ads, and the presidential race.

Much will change during the next 14 months. But for now, Israel said he has zeroed in on the tea party to try to win back the 9 million independents who abandoned Democrats last fall.

In a fundraising email last week, he wrote: "When the Tea Party tells House Republicans to jump -- the only question House Republicans ask is 'How high?' "