Sunday shows: Full-steam campaigning

With just over a month left before November’s elections, the Sunday shows will focus heavily on the strategy of party leaders through the final sprint, as Republicans hope the public’s disdain for Congress will propel them to power, and Democrats grapple to prevent a landslide.

Front and center will be the GOP’s “Pledge to America,” a broad outline of the Republicans’ legislative priorities if they win back control of the House. The 21-page document, released by GOP leaders Thursday, lays out strategies to create jobs, reduce deficits and generally cut back the size and influence of the federal government.

{mosads}The Pledge proposes, for instance, to freeze hiring at all but a handful of federal agencies, to use unspent stimulus funds to pay down the debt and to make the Bush tax cuts permanent.

Delivering the GOP’s weekly radio address Saturday, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said the agenda is a response to voters’ dissatisfaction with the current direction of the country. “[The Pledge] commits to immediate action to change the way Congress works, recognizing that the current structure is rigged to minimize public scrutiny and facilitate unnecessary spending,” he said.

Critics, though, are quick to note that the Pledge offers no solution to the spending crisis facing the nation’s entitlement programs, particularly Medicare and Medicaid. They’re wondering how the GOP hopes to balance budgets without a plan to reform those programs, which represent the single greatest force driving deficit spending.

Although thin on specific solutions, the Pledge evokes the Republicans’ 1994 “Contract with America,” which was also designed to tap into the public’s frustrations with the workings of Washington. It worked then for Newt Gingrich, and GOP leaders are hoping the same rings true 16 years later.

To the GOP’s advantage, only 30 percent of the country approves of the way congressional Democrats are handling their job, according to a recent CBS News/New York Times poll. To their disadvantage, only 20 percent of voters think Republicans are doing a good job.

Against that backdrop, leaders from both parties will appear Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” to lay out election strategies and stump for their side. Top White House adviser David Axelrod will represent the Democrats, while Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will stand up for the Republicans.

Axelrod will also be pressed on revelations — published in a new book by Bob Woodward — about the Obama administration’s handling of the war in Afghanistan. McConnell, meanwhile, will discuss the role of the Tea Party in November and, more broadly, within the Republican Party.

CBS’ “Face the Nation” will also examine the influence of the emerging Tea Party movement in American politics. Marco Rubio, the Republican contender in Florida’s tough Senate race will appear, along with Ken Buck, Republican Senate candidate in Colorado, and Sal Russo, the chief strategist for the Tea Party Express.

The Pledge will play prominently this weekend on “Fox News Sunday,” where McCarthy and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) will explain the strategy behind their newly unveiled governing agenda. Afterward, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) will make the Democrats’ case for opposing the GOP’s plan.

Elections will also be the feature of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” where Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), head of the Republican Conference, will square off against Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Pence is among the most prominent supporters of the Republicans’ Pledge, which is likely to drive Sunday’s debate between the two lawmakers.

CNN’s “State of the Union” will get three different perspectives on November’s midterms. Senate Majority Whip Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) will appear to discuss the Democrats’ fight to retain control of the upper chamber; GOP Reps. Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.) will argue the merits of the Pledge to America; and Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman (Conn.) is scheduled to weigh in on it all.