“We’re trying to deny what everyone knows is happening,” said one Democratic pollster who is a veteran of competitive congressional races. “Anybody who is halfway intelligent knows this is a big … problem for us. It’s impossible not to see. We can try to hide our heads in the sand and pretend it’s not a problem, but it is.”…

In the day and age of the 24/7 news cycle, almost every big story in Washington is viewed through the lens of elections — whether it really has the ability to move votes or not. A hot news story that seems in the moment as though it could upend the midterm — the NSA wiretapping scandal, the IRS targeting imbroglio, the Syria bombing campaign that wasn’t, and the Obama administration “war on coal,” to name a few this year — often appears in hindsight as a quick detour on the journey to Election Day.

To many worried Democrats, however, there’s a sense that the botched Obamacare rollout might really be different.

For one, there are the all-too-fresh memories of the last midterm, when Republicans exploited anger and anxiety about the just-passed ACA to score a historic, 63-seat gain in the House. There are the poll numbers, with survey after survey showing Obama’s popularity cratering. The RealClearPolitics’ polling average since Nov. 6 shows Obama’s approval at just above 40 percent.