On the latter they sometimes blame low sea ice which is dumber than dumb since the sea / ocean boundary was always somewhere, didn't really affect the jet and moving it won't affect the jet either. Their standard spiel for the Arctic connection is that the reduced Arctic to lower latitude temperature contrast causes the slowdown and therefore the meandering jet.
The basic problem with that theory is that the doomsayers got their models to predict the opposite up until about the mid-2000's. Then there were a poorly written paper or two with the new theory. Once the jet really started meandering in the late 2000's they discarded the early work and went with meandering. The basic problem is that meandering is much more likely to be associated with the low solar minimum in the late 2000's than any other factor.
Whenever I see Arctic mentioned in any of these stories I know they are junk. I know that Alaska has been cooling for more than a decade. I know that Siberia has been cooling for about two decades (strengthening the Siberian high). Sea ice still decreased but that is due a warmer ocean and is a lagging indicator. The cooling from the low solar minimum has yet to be substantially felt due to thermal inertia but will kick in seriously in a decade or two.
Essentially, all negative events convincingly can be portrayed to the low information voter as blamable on conservative ideals and solved by increased government intervention. This is how the progressives have outplayed conservatives and are winning most arguments. The Kenyan Marxist spends most weeks playing this game using speeches to small segments (gays, college students, blacks, Hispanics, etc.) of the population. In total, he’s gained a majority of people who are now convinced they are victims and need HIS help. I’ve yet to see a conservative movement that uses a focused and simple message to counter the progressive approach. Romney certainly wouldn’t have reversed the concept of governmental greatness (look at his record in Massachusetts), and everyone knew this, so enough simply voted for the unabashedly honest progressive instead of the progressive in disguise.