Frank Says Democrats Healing After Extended Primary Fight

Video

PostTalk with Rep. Barney Frank

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) sits down with washingtonpost.com's Ben Pershing to discuss recent housing legislation and the upcoming Presidential and Congressional elections in November.

» LAUNCH VIDEO PLAYER

Downballot, Frank is becoming increasingly certain, as are many of his Democratic colleagues, that the party will gain House seats in the fall.

"I tend to be somewhat pessimistic, but even the Republicans will tell you that," Frank said. Why? Because "the right wing of the Republican Party is re-asserting its dominance. Not in the presidential campaign...but in the House in particular, the moderate Republicans are being driven out, and they're being driven out by the more conservative Republicans... So yeah, I think it's pretty clear that Democrats are going to pick up seats."

With President Bush unpopular and the polls, campaign contributions and issue environment all pointing Democrats' way, the stars may well be aligned for them to pick up a significant number of seats in both the House and Senate. But that trend doesn't seem to have moved the presidential race, as polls show Obama and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) neck--and--neck. One explanation for that closeness, Frank believes, is race.

"Obama is a new candidate and yes, we've had a history in this country of concerns about race, and race is a factor," Frank said. "It was a very pleasant surprise for many people that race was so little a factor in the Democratic primary, in terms of white voters. You can't totally forget that."

Though Frank said that McCain "is a much more conservative man than most people realize," he does think the Arizonan is the best candidate Republicans could have chosen for the general election. "It is a combination of McCain being appealing and Obama being a different candidate. I am still optimistic that [Obama's] going to win," Frank said.

Frank's optimism also extends to the impact the housing bill that was signed last week will have on frazzled financial markets. The Financial Services chairman was the lead House negotiator on the package, which was hammered out by primarily by him, Sens. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. Given the number of cooks in the kitchen, how happy was Frank with the final result?