To paraphrase Rhett Butler in a scene from “Gone with the Wind,” “panic isn’t a pretty sight.” But panic is precisely what’s occurring in the Democratic Party in the run up to the 2014 midterm elections.
The spinmeisters and the White House may try and sugarcoat it, but realists know that a large segment of the electorate has had it with President Obama. Simply put, there is a crisis of confidence with Obama’s performance as president.
On the home front, the tepid economic recovery, Obamacare, and the illegal immigration crisis at our southern border are causing distress among the middle class and independent voters.
Around the globe, Obama’s red lines, rhetoric, apologies, and lecturing are not being received well by our allies — and more important, Obama is not being taken seriously by our enemies.
The “reset button” with Russia brought to us by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been an utter disaster and Vladimir Putin is operating with impunity in his quest for Russian expansionism.
Iraq is in chaos, ISIS is on the march, and Secretary of State John Kerry’s “shuttle diplomacy” to broker peace in the Gaza Strip has been an unmitigated failure.
Clearly, Obama and his team remain amateurs on the world stage. And their big government takeover schemes and redistribution of wealth aren’t working at home, either.
As much as the Democratic Party tries blaming George W. Bush for the nation’s problems, that is no longer a sound electoral strategy or talking point. As a result, Democratic candidates in tough races are beginning to distance themselves from Obama as fast as they can. In their advertising pitches and on the stump, they are attempting to draw clear distinctions between themselves and the president.
Name the topic: the Keystone XL pipeline, illegal immigration, foreign policy, or the economy — in many instances the Democrats are choosing to be independent from the White House. Suddenly, they think it’s OK to be your own man or woman.
Just look at Democratic U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan — who in a TV ad says (and I am paraphrasing), just like North Carolina, she is a moderate — not too far left, not too far right.
Clearly, Hagan is making a direct appeal to independents, particularly suburban women. Unfortunately for her, independents are not too happy with the Obama chaos that affects their lives daily. And count on this — Hagan’s record of voting to support Obama’s policies 96 percent of the time will be repeated over and over in advertising messages between now and the November election.
Even though Hagan’s campaign coffers may be deeper than those of her Republican opponent Thom Tillis, her association with Obama and his policies present huge disadvantages for her re-election. To be blunt, Kay Hagan is on the wrong side in the wrong year. And the Left’s abandonment of Obama not only applies to candidates running this year, but also has drifted over to mainstream media types including NBC’s Chuck Todd and Andrea Mitchell — not to mention Hillary Clinton — all of whom recently have taken swipes at Obama on foreign policy.
So my guess is that this summer Obama is feeling a little abandoned by his pals on the Left as he golfs on Martha’s Vineyard. But not to worry. Obama still has a way to motivate his base — he can shred the Constitution, and by executive order give amnesty to 5 million illegal immigrants, creating a constitutional crisis and even more chaos in his wake.
Marc Rotterman is a senior fellow at the John Locke Foundation and a former political appointee in the Reagan administration.