Posted on 03/09/2014 6:46:34 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
Obama to Dems: Its time to worry
By Justin Sink - 03/09/14 06:00 AM EDT
The election is coming, the election is coming!
Thats the message coming from President Obama as he tries desperately to rouse Democrats out of a midterm election stupor that could cost his party control of the Senate and bury his agenda once and for all.
Obama has increasingly sounded like the nerdy kid in a bad horror movie constantly warning his friends to stay out of danger as hes called on the Democratic base to not be complacent in 2014.
You've got to pay attention to the states, he begged at a recent fundraiser for the Democratic Governors Association. Obama lamented that Democrats dont think state-level races in the 2014 midterms are sexy enough.
Raising cash for Senate Democrats in Virginia, Obama said Democrats tend to get a little sleepy and distracted.
Were good at Senate and House elections during presidential years its something about midterms," Obama said. "I dont know what it is about us.
And at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser in Boston, Obama said poor turnout could lead the partys candidates to get walloped.
It's happened before and it could happen again, said Obama, who remembers all too well the shellacking his party took in 2010, when it lost control of the House.
In 2014, the worry is that Democrats will lose the Senate if the base doesnt come out, and its an outcome that political observers and Democratic strategists say is more and more plausible.
Democrats are defending 21 of the 36 Senate seats up this fall, and election watchers widely expect the party to lose seats as they protect a fragile six-seat majority.
Democrats in red states like South Dakota, West Virginia and Montana have retired, and Democratic Sens. Mark Pryor (Ark.), Mark Begich (Alaska), Mary Landrieu (La.) and Kay Hagan (N.C.) are facing tough races.
You just have a lot more red states than blue states in play, said Democratic strategist Steve Elmendorf.
Compounding that problem is that the demographic advantages the president exploited in 2012 an influx of young and minority voters are unlikely to materialize this cycle.
Older, white voters less friendly to the president are far more likely to head to the polls for a midterm election.
The difference in electorates between midterm elections and presidential elections is stunning, said Ken Goldstein, a political scientist at the University of San Francisco.
We dont know what the world looks like when theres not an African American named Barack Obama on the top of the ticket, he added.
Dye-in-the-wool liberal commentator Chris Matthews predicted that Democrats could lose as many as 10 Senate seats in the midterms.
To the Democrats, this election, a rosy scenario is to lose five Senate seats, not six, he said on Meet the Press. They could lose 10.
And Democrats are nervous that their candidates have been unable to exploit races where they should have an advantage. In Michigan, Rep. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) hired a new campaign manager on Thursday, as recent polls show the congressman trailing Republican Terri Lynn Land.
Publicly, the White House is looking to project unwavering confidence heading into the midterms.
Senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer said Thursday that the White House wasnt even entertaining the possibility the GOP could regain the upper chamber.
Were not preparing for it, Pfeiffer said at a breakfast hosted by Politico. Were very confident the Democrats will retain the Senate. Thats where all of our energy and our focus is.
But Pfeiffer acknowledged that if Republicans took back the upper chamber, it would derail the presidents remaining ambitions. He predicted that the presidents judicial nominees would be blocked, and the effort to repeal ObamaCare would gain new momentum.
It would mean a loss of the agenda that the American people care about and support, Pfeiffer said. The Republican Senate would block almost everything. The Republican Senate, I promise you would spend all of its time trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
Recent moves suggest Obama understands the consequences, and is eager to avoid the shellacking the party took in 2012. And his efforts to rally the base extend beyond nagging donors to stay engaged.
A White House official says that the president will look to set the terms of the election by focusing on his economic policy message, and repeatedly contrasting that with Republican policies designed to benefit wealthy Americans.
White House aides have been working with Democrats on votes intended to highlight that contrast. Those legislative efforts will likely include a Senate vote on hiking the minimum wage, among others.
And Obama will look to rally turnout, leaning on his voter data and political operation that helped secure his 2008 and 2012 wins.
Midterms are about getting the base out and no one is better at that than President Obama, the official said.
Of course, Obama and his middling approval ratings may not be an advantage in states like Louisiana and Kentucky, and some lawmakers have already said they dont want the president to campaign for them. Instead, Obama hopes to channel fundraising dollars from progressive strongholds where he remains popular.
Through June, Obama will attend 18 DNC fundraisers, as well as an additional dozen for Democratic governors, senators, and House members. The president will also attend events for House and Senate political action committees, in a bid to inspire high-dollar donations to combat spending by wealthy conservative donors.
President Obama is focused only on the end result, the official said. Our approach to the midterms is not where can we campaign it is how can we help.
You can sit down and shut up..."Yes We Can"
Losing the Senate will not impede his agenda. Because he is already enacting it through illegal regulation and unconstitutional edits as well as selective (non) enforcement of laws.
A Republican Senate isn’t going to change that. The Republicans don’t have the guts to do what is necessary to stop an illegitimate and lawless regime.
Obama to Dem schleppers -
“This election is serious, dammit. Our Party’s future is riding on this one. I need all of you guys to work hard, give 110% day and night, so we can win this thing.
Now if there’s any further questions, I’ll be out on the golf course.”
he must have gotten word that Putin is going to release everything that he has been blackmailing him on
We dont know what the world looks like when theres not an African American named Barack Obama on the top of the ticket, [the political scientist] added.”
Yes we do, that already happened in 2010 when the bloom was a lot brighter on the rose than it is right now.
There is also an error later in the article when they say 2012 but they mean 2010.
This guy is always taking the high risk, do it my way, unconventional approach to do things his way.
None of those moves are based on actual success of past accomplishment be it the economy, green energy, reset with Russia, reinvent the Government Medical Business, etc.
So its all pretty much a guy whose narcissistic choices are totally departed from ACTUAL EXPERIENTIAL SUCCESS.
To to sum this up, he’s been going about having his way and now, JUST NOW, he’s telling his party that this stuff hasn’t worked and its time for all hands on deck?
The GOP may be the Stupid Party, but if they go along with this then the Dems are the Dangerously Stupid Party.
Justin Sink.
Well, then, don’t just sit there. Try to climb out.
Lie; he got 3.5 million fewer voters in 2012 than he had in '08 and the percentage of voting age population that actually voted went from 58% to 52 %. I'm guessing because this is one of the stories MSM doesn't want to tell.
bingo on point two...of course this is the assumption the GOPe doesn’t screw up taking back the senate...
At this point, it's not his agenda that needs to be buried.
The GOPe will save him.. The stupid party always does.
Midterms are about getting the base out and no one is better at that than President Obama, the official said.
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Pothead College kids and Welfare Queens are NOT going to bother with a Mid-term Election. Give it your best shot, Hussein; it’s not going to work.
“White House aides have been working with Democrats on votes intended to highlight that contrast. Those legislative efforts will likely include a Senate vote on hiking the minimum wage, among others.”
If Hairy Reed gets a minimum wage increase to $10.10 passed in the Senate, then Boner should get the House to amend that to increase it to $100 an hour.
Then O’bastard and Reed can throw a fit saying Republicans are being mean to them because it can’t pass as amended.
Even the one who promised to stop the raising sea and cool the planet will be powerless to stop it...
He will be the lamest of lame ducks when the GOP controls by chambers...but on a positive note, his golf game will vastly improve...
Pass it with an amendment cutting small business taxes by a third.
If Boehner weren't such a pathetic rummy loser he would realize that every one of these feints and traps by the Dems is actually an opportunity.
I don't know what they did for fun in his old man's bar but it wasn't poker. Maybe they just cried in their beer...
What’s to worry? McConnell and Boehner will rescue Hussiens agenda.
Boehner plays checkers while the Dems play chess.
GOP-E has got to get voted out in order for real change to occur.
If I was running the House I would feed O’bastard/Reid their Marxist agenda on a stick!
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