'World News' Political Insights: Democrats do Triage in Scramble to Hold on

WASHINGTON, Sept. 5, 2010 -- The "summer of recovery" wasn't. And now, if Democrats hope to hang on to power on Capitol Hill, their political survival will be a lonely process.

Facing longer odds in their efforts to hang on to Congress, Democrats are all but abandoning hopes of running on a national narrative in 2010. Instead, they're embracing a ground-level strategy that they hope will allow them to limit their losses in November by framing individual races as stark choices for voters.

With the fall campaign beginning in earnest this week, party leaders are primarily intent on seeking to disqualify Republican candidates in targeted districts. And they're pursuing a strategy of retrenchment as they identify the dwindling list of seats they believe they can hold on to, forcing Democrats who have the least chance of being reelected to fend for themselves in the final push.

The strategy is emerging as an undeniable series of trends is forcing Democrats to rethink their messaging and distribution of resources.

The battle for control of Congress hasn't seen ups and downs; the campaign to date has been a growing wave that even Democrats increasingly see as likely to wash them out of power in the House.

The Senate is a better bet to stay in Democratic hands, but even it may be in jeopardy, too.

Leading Democrats realize that they won't be able to depend on President Obama for any substantial messaging to keep themselves above water.

The hoped-for "summer of recovery" has turned out to be a bust, stripping Democrats of their last best shot at tangible results to tout on the biggest issue before voters.

Meanwhile, the president's popularity among independent voters has continued to sag, expanding the portions of the map where he is unlikely to be able to help members of his party.

So while Obama seeks to reframe the national debate this week by focusing on the economy and outlining new steps Democrats say they would enact, the campaign is really being fought out at a much more granular level, with an every-man-for-himself mentality taking hold.