Tweet
Dems' big 2014 obstacle: President Obama
Politico
Alex Isenstadt
3/11/2013
Excerpt:
President Barack Obama says he’s ready to do whatever it takes to help Democrats win the House next year — a feat that could make the difference between limping to the end of his presidency and going out with a bang.
But some Democratic candidates and operatives in the districts on which control of the House will hinge said in interviews with POLITICO that the message and issues Obama has emphasized since the election are creating a difficult political headwind for them.
Obama’s political choices, they say, reflect a tone-deafness to the challenges they face competing for moderate and conservative-leaning seats.
To net 17 seats and flip the chamber, Democrats have to win predominantly on GOP turf, in districts that Mitt Romney won and where Obama and his agenda are unpopular. A number of Democrats made clear in interviews that the more partisan posture Obama has adopted over the past few months — particularly on cultural issues like gun control, and to a lesser extent on immigration and gay marriage — is making an uphill slog that much steeper.
“I think the tone coming out of the White House … could probably be more conciliatory,” said Jim Graves, a Minnesota Democrat who nearly knocked off Rep. Michele Bachmann last year in a suburban Twin Cities district where Obama barely eclipsed 40 percent.
Graves, who’s girding for a rematch against Bachmann next year, added, “There’s no question — Obama has taken a fairly liberal tack in his second term. But I’m not here for the president. I’m here for the people of the 6th Congressional District.”
Arkansas Democratic state Sen. Bruce Maloch said he’s considering running for a House seat that tilts heavily Republican. But he, too, is worried about the opposition tying him to a White House that has pivoted left since November.
“I’m an Arkansas Democrat,” Maloch said. “I would probably not go as far as the president on some of those issues.”
The last time Democrats seized the House, in 2006, Rahm Emanuel, then the House Democratic campaign chief, wooed dozens of crossover-type candidates who could make a credible case to voters in districts that typically sent Republicans to Washington. One of the recruits was Gabrielle Giffords, a tough-on-immigration, pro-gun, pro-business moderate who won an Arizona border district by casting herself as a centrist and her opponent as overly conservative.
.................................................
View the complete article, including video, at:
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/0...ama-88675.html
Politico
Alex Isenstadt
3/11/2013
Excerpt:
President Barack Obama says he’s ready to do whatever it takes to help Democrats win the House next year — a feat that could make the difference between limping to the end of his presidency and going out with a bang.
But some Democratic candidates and operatives in the districts on which control of the House will hinge said in interviews with POLITICO that the message and issues Obama has emphasized since the election are creating a difficult political headwind for them.
Obama’s political choices, they say, reflect a tone-deafness to the challenges they face competing for moderate and conservative-leaning seats.
To net 17 seats and flip the chamber, Democrats have to win predominantly on GOP turf, in districts that Mitt Romney won and where Obama and his agenda are unpopular. A number of Democrats made clear in interviews that the more partisan posture Obama has adopted over the past few months — particularly on cultural issues like gun control, and to a lesser extent on immigration and gay marriage — is making an uphill slog that much steeper.
“I think the tone coming out of the White House … could probably be more conciliatory,” said Jim Graves, a Minnesota Democrat who nearly knocked off Rep. Michele Bachmann last year in a suburban Twin Cities district where Obama barely eclipsed 40 percent.
Graves, who’s girding for a rematch against Bachmann next year, added, “There’s no question — Obama has taken a fairly liberal tack in his second term. But I’m not here for the president. I’m here for the people of the 6th Congressional District.”
Arkansas Democratic state Sen. Bruce Maloch said he’s considering running for a House seat that tilts heavily Republican. But he, too, is worried about the opposition tying him to a White House that has pivoted left since November.
“I’m an Arkansas Democrat,” Maloch said. “I would probably not go as far as the president on some of those issues.”
The last time Democrats seized the House, in 2006, Rahm Emanuel, then the House Democratic campaign chief, wooed dozens of crossover-type candidates who could make a credible case to voters in districts that typically sent Republicans to Washington. One of the recruits was Gabrielle Giffords, a tough-on-immigration, pro-gun, pro-business moderate who won an Arizona border district by casting herself as a centrist and her opponent as overly conservative.
.................................................
View the complete article, including video, at:
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/0...ama-88675.html