Politico: Dems big 2014 obstacle: President Obama

[cpwill]

What was the phrase from the Clinton era? Don't Wake the Bear.

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...

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
.

“It would be better for Democrats if they had an unpopular Republican president in terms of winning the House back,” the former aide said. “I just think [having] a sitting Democratic president where you have to distance yourself from the top guy” makes it hard to recruit.


Adding to the complications of running as a conservative Democrat is the lingering presence of billionaire New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has essentially declared war on pro-gun Democrats. Last month, Bloomberg funneled $2 million into his super PAC to sink the fortunes of a pro-NRA Democrat in a special primary election for an Illinois congressional seat. (A Democrat closer to Bloomberg’s gun stance is expected to win the general election.)

If there’s one issue that Democrats worry could become sticky in 2014 races, it’s gun control. While party strategists believe that the president’s forceful advocacy of immigration reform and gay marriage tracks with shifts in public opinion, opposition to new restrictions on guns is palpable in many conservative pockets of the country.


“In some of those conservative to moderate districts, the gun debate is a real challenge for Democratic candidates,” said Andrew Myers, a Democratic pollster who advises many candidates in conservative states.


More broadly, some Democrats worry that Obama’s liberal tack will have the effect of reinvigorating Republican voters at a time when the GOP is still trying to lift itself off the mat from the disastrous 2012 election...

Yeah, but I don't see it helping the GOP as a structure that much.

 

[Bob N]

Yeah, but I don't see it helping the GOP as a structure that much.

The gun control debate is like a double-edged sword--it can cut either way. I believe that there are people in GOP areas that would acknowledge the need to do something over the Sandy Hook incident; to do nothing could help the cause to put Democrats in seats. Whoever plays nicely will garner more attention of respect rather than ire, and seeing that the GOP can't seem to get off the don't-take-my-guns-away-and-don't-stop-anyone-from-gun-purchases-thing, I believe the Left will hold up alright. :wink:

 

[Rocketman]

The gun control debate is like a double-edged sword--it can cut either way. I believe that there are people in GOP areas that would acknowledge the need to do something over the Sandy Hook incident; to do nothing could help the cause to put Democrats in seats. Whoever plays nicely will garner more attention of respect rather than ire, and seeing that the GOP can't seem to get off the don't-take-my-guns-away-and-don't-stop-anyone-from-gun-purchases-thing, I believe the Left will hold up alright. :wink:

That shooting could have been prevented if liberals would forget about PC and do the right thing when seeing a person that is clearly a threat to those around them. Liberal policies of no discipline in schools and PC cultural changes brought these tragedies into our lives.

 

[ttwtt78640]

Not only must the demorats take 17 more seats they cannot lose any in the process, which is even a greater challenge if Obama wishes to enact more rigorous gun control, immigration reform or add more goofy income redistribution schemes before the 2014 elections. Obama was doing much better. personally, before diving into these "hot button" issues, simply painting the republicants as the "party of no".

The initial sting of the bulk of PPACA remains to be seen as well, right before the 2014 elections. When many single low income folks discover that they get neither PPACA nor Medicaid they will not be impressed and the Obama proposed caving on "cost containment" of Medicare is not very popular either (in either red or blue districts).

Obama will have to ensure that he demands enough added taxation of "the rich" to keep any real budget cuts from happening and keep trying to assert that the mean old, rich loving republicants are the boogie man causing them "pain" as he carefully manipulates any "cuts" actually made, as he recently overdid with the tiny sequestration cuts.

 

[Bob N]

That shooting could have been prevented if liberals would forget about PC and do the right thing when seeing a person that is clearly a threat to those around them. Liberal policies of no discipline in schools and PC cultural changes brought these tragedies into our lives.

Thank you for proving me right. Now, Sir, if that doesn't work for you, may I advise getting any of your GOP legislators to filibuster a "bipartisan" Bill that will correct the problem (even if it is something as simple as strengthening the laws on the books now and making states comply.) by getting up and talking for thirteen hours without going to the toilet about how young people are raised inadequately?

Thirteen hours. You do know Independent voters notice those kind of things, right? :roll:

 

[Rocketman]

Thank you for proving me right. Now, Sir, if that doesn't work for you, may I advise getting any of your GOP legislators to filibuster a "bipartisan" Bill that will correct the problem (even if it is something as simple as strengthening the laws on the books now and making states comply.) by getting up and talking for thirteen hours without going to the toilet about how young people are raised inadequately?

Thirteen hours. You do know Independent voters notice those kind of things, right? :roll:

Lousy liberal parenting has caused this, now the fools should reap what they have sewn.

 

[CanadaJohn]

Obama is now, and will be in the lead up to the 2014 mid-terms, utterly irrelevant and a net-negative if anything at all. He is currently being marginalized by those in power in Washington and he will be satisfied to be the titular head of state for the next four years so long as the government continues to fund his golf outings and other peccadilloes along the way.

 

[PeteEU]

Man I got some deja-vu here.. was it not the same line that the GOP and its propaganda machine was promoting in the run up to the 2012 elections... the elections where the GOP were hammered?

 

[Bob N]

Lousy liberal parenting has caused this, now the fools should reap what they have sewn.

Yep. Like I said: thirteen hours of filibustering on that should do.

 

[Rocketman]

Yep. Like I said: thirteen hours of filibustering on that should do.

It worked, glad to hear you support the government killing American citiziens

 

[Sarcogito]

I just don’t see Obama having much of an effect in either direction in the 2014 election. My guess is there will be a tendency to vote against the incumbents in the House.