Dem strategists to candidates: Walk away from Obama

posted at 12:15 pm on August 19, 2010 by Ed Morrissey

Reid Wilson reports what most Hot Air readers will see as conventional wisdom, but the news is really the source of the advice.  Democratic strategists have concluded that Barack Obama is “a walking radioactive disaster,” whose free-fall threatens a large number Democratic candidates in the midterm elections.  Their advice?  Dump their wingman, because as it turns out, he’s less popular than the man he’s been demonizing in the districts where it counts:

The advice from Democratic consultants and strategists is almost unanimous: Run away from the president, and fast. A prominent Democratic pollster is circulating a survey that shows George W. Bush is 6 points more popular than President Obama in “Frontline” districts — seats held by Democrats that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sees as most vulnerable to Republican takeover. That Bush is more popular than Obama in Democratic-held seats is cause for outright fear. …

“He is a walking radioactive disaster,” one senior Democratic operative said of the president. But any effort to seriously distance oneself from Obama is dangerous for an incumbent; go too hard against the president and voters think the candidate is faking it.

That will be a problem for Democrats who rode Obama’s coattails to victory in 2008. All of them embraced Obama, and all of them benefited from his “hope and change” campaign that in retrospect looks a lot more reactionary than substantive. In order to distance themselves now, they’ll have to rely on a large-scale outbreak of collective amnesia.

Candidates will also have to carefully and slowly extricate themselves from that embrace. How to do that? Wilson reports that strategists are offering vanilla advice: talk about yourself, talk about your opponent, and talk about local politics. The more nationalized the election becomes, the more difficulty Democrats will have in separating themselves from Obama (and Nancy Pelosi as well). That will prove difficult in an election cycle where the top issues for voters are the national economy, joblessness, and the budget deficit. It will also mean eschewing the single legislative accomplishment Democrats can claim, ObamaCare, but that’s not much of a sacrifice, since ObamaCare is so unpopular that six out of ten voters want it repealed.

In other words, take the advice of the Ventures — walk, don’t run. With 75 days left for the midterm elections, it seems doubtful that Democrats have enough time to build their campaigns around attack ads and pork, but that will probably be their strategy. Unfortunately, Republicans will continue to remind voters of the importance of the midterms on the national level, and in this cycle, that’s almost certainly going to trump pork.

Here are The Ventures with the strategists’ theme song for the midterms:

Blowback

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Comment pages: 1 2

What a Racist way to treat the first black president.

Democrat Strategy = Run from the Black guy.

portlandon on August 19, 2010 at 12:29 PM

I’m glad I wasn’t drinking when I read that. I’d be cleaning my monitor right now.

Extrafishy on August 19, 2010 at 1:34 PM

If the November Democratic losses are big enough, I’d look to see Billy and Hillary! having some serious talks with the honchos of the DNC about 2012.

GarandFan on August 19, 2010 at 12:26 PM
Yep, and then, our battle starts with Hillary (Alinsky).

mobydutch on August 19, 2010 at 1:34 PM

No bigs.

Isn’t the DOTUS the first post-Christian American President?

PappyD61 on August 19, 2010 at 1:38 PM

It’s just that much more difficult to distance yourself from Obama when he’s on the stump every day with a new emergency, jobs, investment-in-the-future, union, pork bill. Do you vote NO and get wipe-sawed by the Democrat leadership as being anti-little guy or do you vote YES and ruin your own message. “I’m again it expect when they order me to be for it” is not a winning strategy.

Fred 2 on August 19, 2010 at 1:40 PM

The Ventures. nice touch Ed.

Hat tip.

44Magnum on August 19, 2010 at 1:48 PM

The Dems will run away from obama today….but as the awesome 80′s band, RATT, once lyricized…they’ll be back for more!

ted c on August 19, 2010 at 1:48 PM

What good is running from the president going to do? The democratic congress is responsible for passing the bills the majority of Americans didn’t want, and spent the trillions of dollars Americans didn’t want to spend. Mr. President didn’t do that all by himself, he couldn’t have done it without them.

scalleywag on August 19, 2010 at 1:52 PM

What good is running from the president going to do? The democratic congress is responsible for passing the bills the majority of Americans didn’t want, and spent the trillions of dollars Americans didn’t want to spend. Mr. President didn’t do that all by himself, he couldn’t have done it without them.

scalleywag on August 19, 2010 at 1:52 PM

Agreed. I think people look at the President as a help or hindrance to Congressmen. When in fact I believe in this mid-term we’re watching a President that has been dragged down by Congress.

Of course he hasn’t helped his cause by going along with them, but he didn’t “lead” by any stretch of the imagination. He’s too incompetent to lead. He let Pelosi and Reid do all the leading while he tried to take credit for it.

ButterflyDragon on August 19, 2010 at 1:58 PM

THE WALL: Pink Floyd – Run Like Hell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySO-gryuO-c

canopfor on August 19, 2010 at 2:09 PM

Don’t stand so close to me

Rocks on August 19, 2010 at 12:19 PM

Rocks: Excellent musical theme!

canopfor on August 19, 2010 at 2:11 PM

“Don’t worry, you’ve got me.” – BHO

jazzmo on August 19, 2010 at 2:11 PM

Here are The Ventures with the strategists’ theme song for the midterms:
===================
A-1 Capt’n Ed!!!!

canopfor on August 19, 2010 at 2:12 PM

Keep that chin up Barry.

diogenes on August 19, 2010 at 2:42 PM

Wilson reports that strategists are offering vanilla advice: talk about yourself, talk about your opponent, and talk about local politics.

Yeah, good idea; my opponent is for lower taxes, I am for higher taxes…we are only at 10.2% unemployment…
That strategy isn’t so great after all…

right2bright on August 19, 2010 at 2:42 PM

Let the Democrats run on local issues for the city council. This is the House and Senate of the United States, for crying out loud. If Democrat politicians can’t deal with that fact, they should find another line of work.

pedestrian on August 19, 2010 at 3:10 PM

ButterflyDragon on August 19, 2010 at 1:26 PM

Agree, that is what teh Won will do but he has no credibility. The propaganda will echo him, too. Wholly mouth. Pee and moan as he might, the voters will just cheer at each forced veto. And take notes for ’12.

Double dumb stupid D’rats. It’s time to defeat them so badly that their future name is Party of Stoopid. And retire that donkey. Replace him with an amoeba.

Caststeel on August 19, 2010 at 3:25 PM

Mr unprecedented Kickass has finally been revealed to be certifiably Mr Dumbass! He is absolutely Clueless on every major issue facing the United States.He has surrounded himself with equally dumb freaks, misfits, Communists, Muslims,rejects, and radicals who are as ignorant as he. Remember in November to remove all Democrats from office and repeal everything these fools have enacted!

Marco on August 19, 2010 at 3:39 PM

So will President George W. Bush campaign with any Republicans this fall? Too soon?

slickwillie2001 on August 19, 2010 at 5:43 PM

What’d the O say the other day, the republicans forget he is pretty good at politicking. I guess the dem strategists forgot that as well. Delicious.

txmomof6 on August 19, 2010 at 7:22 PM

Democratic strategists have concluded that Barack Obama is “a walking radioactive disaster,” whose free-fall threatens a large number Democratic candidates in the midterm elections. Their advice? Dump their wingman, because as it turns out, he’s less popular than the man he’s been demonizing in the districts where it counts

Yeah, and then IF you’re elected, continue to follow his crazy destructive rampage through the American economy.

B.S. I say! Don’t vote Democrat at all.

disa on August 19, 2010 at 8:02 PM

Don’t stand so close to me

Rocks on August 19, 2010 at 12:19 PM

Now thar’s a video for those guys to make, like they did when they riffed on Talking Head’s “Same as it ever was” a few weeks ago.

AH_C on August 19, 2010 at 9:08 PM

What good is running from the president going to do? The democratic congress is responsible for passing the bills the majority of Americans didn’t want, and spent the trillions of dollars Americans didn’t want to spend. Mr. President didn’t do that all by himself, he couldn’t have done it without them.

scalleywag on August 19, 2010 at 1:52 PM

Obama and “his” (he does call them his) congress are joined at the hip. Niether one can disown the other until the American people cut them apart in November.

One of the important things to know about Obama is that he is a narcissit that is or boarders on a pychosis. Narcissist succeed by blaming others for their failures. They often succeed by convincing others that the failure lay with someone else. They also tend to distance themselves from others who are a threat to them in some way. That is why this administration has the term “under the bus” as a key discriptor of distancing.

After that successful surgery, look for the Narcissist president to blame all the nations problems on Reid, Polosi, “their” congress, the Republicans and Bush. If he fails to get amnesty he will not have the votes to win a second term. Without control of congress, and not second term, he has nothing to lose that is not already lost.

Obama is not alone in this. Michelle has to be considered. As Obama’s ability to do as he wants is curtailed, she is not going to be happy. She expected to live in the Whitehouse for at least eight years and enjoy the entitlements they could not afford as private citizens. She sees herself as a celeberty and fashsion model, at least she thinks that is what she is. She is not going to give up that easily. I expect at some point the race card will show up.

We are perhaps already seeing some of the vintictiveness for failing to support his polices, for Arizona passing laws which drive away the illegals that he wants to give amnesty to so they can vote for him, for the people who people who will strip him of his conrol of congress in November. He has to be very aware of how the large majority of the American people, including muslims, who do not want that mosque built there. He has to know that it will be a momument and a mosque of victory for the terroist, and he has to know that the money to build it is coming from the same terroist countries that sent the 9/11 highjacker terroist. Yet he supports it being built on the off issue premise of freedom of religion. That is a punishment for us to endure.

There is something odd going on in the white house that might have some connection to this issue of Obama and the congress. The Obama’s have always taken vacations together, until Michelle went off to Spain alone with only her youngest daughter. The mood around his birthday was depressing and angry, depending on who you were looking at. Part of the anger on Michelle’s part might be not being invited to the Clinton’s daughters wedding. The trip suddenly was being planned. The logical conclusion is that a fight occured in which Michelle blamed Obama, right or wrong, for the failure of his presidentcy. Maybe the older daughter backed her daddy, or maybe she made her mother mad. Either way, it is odd that a summer sleepover camp can trump a trip to Spain and meeting the King and Queen. In sharp contrast to last year, Obama celebrated his birthday in Chicago with a few friends. If there was a reason for him to have stayed, it is hard to tell since he spent a lot of time hob nobbing with his sports idols.

To add a bit more to this curiousity, Obama flew out on airforce one with the dog this time, to Martha Vinyard. Michelle and the daughters took a seperate plane.

I hope he enjoys all those people wearing the “Miss me Yet? Bush T shirts. I am waiting to see how the secret service handles people who are wearing them.

Franklyn on August 20, 2010 at 3:30 AM

Soetoro: Wide stance but no coat tails.

BHO Jonestown on August 20, 2010 at 4:51 AM

Comment pages: 1 2