The Democrats' Coming Blame Game

[Purveyor]

Years of disappointment and tension between Democrats and their president are now on open display as politicians, party leaders and strategists worried about their chances in the midterm elections begin casting about for someone to blame.

A party and its president often go their separate ways during the final years of a second term, and Democrats say they appreciate Obama's decision to avoid campaigning in competitive states. But that doesn't do much to soften frustration with what they describe as near-political malpractice by the White House, basic missteps that some blame on an insular president who they say takes advice from aides with little campaign experience. “Folks are beginning to scapegoat and second guess, but there are plenty of reasons to do that,” said strategist Jim Manley, a former aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. “President Obama doesn't like to get his hands dirty. He seemingly floats above it all.”

On Wednesday morning, Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz refused to endorse the president's contention that the Nov. 4 vote would be a referendum on his agenda, coming within a whisker of an outright contradiction. “Barack Obama was on the ballot in 2012 and 2008," she said, when pressed in an interview on MSNBC. Two days earlier, Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia told The Washington Post that there is “nothing” Obama can do to help swing competitive races to moderate Democrats. A presidential campaign visit, he said, “is not going to be productive.”

“President Obama doesn't like to get his hands dirty. He seemingly floats above it all.”
Jim Manley, former aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid

Even the party's top surrogates are trying to avoid explicit mentions of the president. At a Tuesday event in western Kentucky, former President Bill Clinton urged Democrats not to let their dislike of Obama influence the decision in the state's race for Senate. “Make sure nobody casts a protest vote,” he said on Tuesday. “Whoever heard of somebody giving a six-year job for a two-year protest?”

The White House, bracing for an escalation of friendly fire should Democrats lose control of the Senate, has begun laying out its post-election defense by arguing that candidates are ultimately responsible for their own electoral outcomes. “The success of many of these Democratic candidates will depend on their own success in motivating voters that strongly supported the president in 2012,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Tuesday. “It's their name that's on the ballot.”

more...

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2014-10-23/the-democrats-coming-blame-game

[BeyondGeography]

1. The sloppiness in Iowa bothers me

All the rest is bullshit or bordering on it. The President said his policies are on the ballot! Get me to the nearest fainting couch.

[fasttense]

2. Sounds like GOP propaganda

The GOP and the Koch brothers hate Obama. So everyone else must hate him too.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

5. No different that the Obama blame and hate we witness right here on DU on a daily basis.

If we blame/hate him, of course that justifies their hatred of him and it's easier to blame him too!

[Proud Liberal Dem]

3. Sounds like

they are trying to stir stuff up. The election isn't even over yet and everybody is already talking about who to blame.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

4. So let me get this double-logic straight about the meme going around re: President Obama

Last edited Fri Oct 24, 2014, 02:29 PM - Edit history (1)

Either he's:

1. A weak, cowardly "bystander" who doesn't like to get his hands dirty.

or, it's...

2. We weak, cowardly Democrats don't want the black Kenyan on our turf campaigning for us because we're too fucking cowardly to stand up for all the good and positive things he has done for this country. We can't even admit that we voted for the black Kenyan.

Which is it?

Can be both.

Either he's standing aside because (1) you asked him to because being tied to the black Kenyan in the White House will threaten your chances at winning; or (2) he has no successful economic record on which to tout so he's keeping his distance.

Either way, when the Democrats go down this road, it confirms every stereotype that he often directed at them. And that's why they lose!!

[AtomicKitten]

6. I am struck by this.

... former President Bill Clinton urged Democrats not to let their dislike of Obama influence the decision in the state's race for Senate.

Their dislike of Obama? This is not commentary on the political atmosphere of the state, it's a window into and projection of the Clintons' and their allies' dislike of Obama. Bill Clinton is mistaken if he thinks sewing division even subtly will serve The Inevitable™ in 2016.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

7. Yep. I've made that same prediction. Neither Bill nor Hillary are able to answer how...

they will be able to successfully distance themselves from Obama while, at the very same time, convince Americans that they can do better. Hillary served under Obama. She was his Secretary of State. What is she going to do? Deny that she was ever tied to him? What is she going to do? Assert that his administration never created a job, that his policies never led to a reduction in the deficit, that his healthcare program never assisted people in obtaining affordable health care? Yes, I know that perhaps these lies will work in the general election, but they won't work during the primary.

That's why I will continue to assert that it is in Bill and Hillary's best interest to ensure that the Democrats do well this year. And stop talking down about Obama. That works in KY because we know what happened during the 2008 primaries when *Democrats* openly admitted that they could not vote for a black man. So of course it'll work there. But I can assure you that it will not work on the rest of the base, especially the most loyal segment of the Democratic Party base. Now, I've been hearing some DUers dismiss the black vote. Go ahead, but the Democratic Party will ignore us at its own peril. And if they are going to force Hillary Clinton on us, she had better stand behind Obama's policies 100%: she, her husband and their surrogates, or I am willing to put money down that she will not get past the primaries. Black folk will not tolerate any form of racism like what happened in 2008 with Bill, Hill and their surrogates. The Democratic Party better stop ignoring black voters and taking us for granted. I feel very comfortable making these statements.

[AtomicKitten]

8. I stand with you.

I was appalled by the dog-whistle ugliness that transpired in '08. Unforgivable in my book.

I read somewhere that black voters were the only voting block that voted statistically as strong during the presidential election as they did in the following midterm. Bravo, really. A force to be reckoned with and not to be taken for granted.