The Washington Post is reporting it as one of the most painful 40 seconds of this election cycle. Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) was asked a simple question: did you vote for President Obama. What followed in the clip below was one of the most revealing 40 seconds of how bad this election is becoming for Democrats and how radioactive the President has become. Grimes refuses to answer. She is trying to unseat Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) and these mid-term elections tend to reflect the view of the incumbent president as some voters try to either add support or resistance to a president in Congress. Obama’s popularity stands at a dismal 30 percent in Kentucky. The clip is particularly interesting given the recent public statements of the President that this election is about his policies. It was an effort to rally Democrats but candidates who have been increasingly fleeing associations with the unpopular president cringed across the country. Given Obama’s national polling, an election based his policies and Administration would magnify the already great expected losses in November, including the possible loss of both houses. Even long-time ally and former campaign manager David Axelrod said that the President’s framing of the election as a vote on his policies was a huge mistake. The deer in the headlights look of Grimes reflects that point vividly.
The President’s words actually started out reflecting the national strategy of the Democratic National Committee to minimize his profile and policies in this election but he then veered directly into the wall that the Democrats are trying desperately (and unsuccessfully) to avoid:
“I am not on the ballot this fall. Michelle’s pretty happy about that. But make no mistake: these policies are on the ballot. Every single one of them.”
You could hear Democratic candidates collectively moaning with the last part of the message. Grimes vividly illustrates the fear of association with Obama. Grimes repeatedly refuses to even admit that she voted for the leader of her party in 2008 and 2012. It was, as the Post notes, an easy question to address. Just say that you voted for him but you are disappointed in him. Instead, Grimes refuses repeatedly to answer the question from the Louisville Courier-Journal editorial board.
She then takes an equally curious spin by insisting that she is a Hillary Clinton supporter, something that is only marginally better in Kentucky.
I continually find such transformations among politicians fascinating. They will flock around a popular president as they once did with Obama but have no hesitation to treat him like a pariah once his polling numbers fall. It does not play well, as shown on this video, but they assume it is worse to admit even the slightest level of prior support for an unpopular president.
Civil libertarians have long been opposed to Obama, who quickly shredded his promised reforms from the first election and launched comprehensive attack on privacy, press rights, and other core values. However, civil libertarians remain a small part of the electorate, which is why they were the first to be jettisoned by the Obama Administration. Now there is a far broader level of opposition building around policies like immigration, health care, and international relations — the very policies that Obama highlighted as the real issue for races like that of Grimes.
Grimes is the daughter of Charlotte and Jerry Lundergan, a former Kentucky Democratic chairman and state representative. She is also a law graduate of American University. Grimes was viewed as serious challenge to McConnell who could be attacked as the classic Washington insider. However, she has been criticized for a lackluster campaign. What is fascinating is that her lead among women is only one percent, according to an article in The Week.
There is still a possibility of the classic “October surprise” factor in shifting such polls and prospects. At the moment, Obama could be looking at the lamest of lame duck terms if both houses go to the GOP. He is not alone. Democratic candidates are even turning on Nancy Pelosi on the campaign trail. The wedge political issues advanced by Pelosi over things like immigration have not panned out. Instead there has been a back lash that led Obama to promise Democrats that he would not act on immigration until after voters went to the polls. Gwen Graham, one of the Democratic Party’s candidates in Florida ran an ad saying “Here’s what I believe: Congress is broken” — it showed a picture of Pelosi as well as John Boehner. Other candidates are doing the same — running against their own leader in the house. These are strange times indeed.
Looks like a bad dating website photo from POF. I know a guy on that dating site and he showed me some photos. Some of the men look almost as bad as this guy. And the women, more than the attractiveness, or lack of it, you can see the desperation, spookiness, flat ass craziness in some of them.
http://cf.chucklesnetwork.com/items/1/2/5/9/0/1/original/bullied-all-throughout-school-years-rest-of-life-spent-being-bul.jpg
Jill,
I just read this afternoon’s posts and although I don’t agree with you most of time, you gained a lot of my respect in your recent posts. In future debates I will take your thoughts seriously. Also, although we are different, I imagine we agree on more than we would think but for different reasons. An example might be reducing our military. You might want it for fiscal reasons. I want it so that the countries in Europe will have to have their own military with out us.
Visually offensive and grammar school large photos being displayed. It’s shocking how childish some people, using different aliases, can be. Shocking and a bit disturbing. This person needs an intervention. Remember the troll study out of Canada. Trolls are often narcissistic and psychopaths. This new troll w/ the photos may need an intervention. The problem is you need friends to intervene.
Liberal women, you can debate all you want whether Obama is left, centrist[giggle] or right[LOL]. What is for certain is he is lawless, incompetent, and a failure. He came into office w/ the notion govt. can solve problems. The incompetence has showed everyone, but the truly indoctrinated, that is not the truth.
http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/035/2/6/cry_baby_mra_by_inconceivablenotions-d755od7.png
I meant to say in my 2nd paragraph I am not a conservative per se. I AM fairly liberal on some issues. Sorry. I walked 12 miles today and I’m pooped.
BD,
I think it suits the PTB to make certain ordinary people never consider that they have a real choice in an election. The major parties both engage in attempts to keep third parties off the ballots, restricting our choices as much as possible. This is also a form of voter disenfranchisement which benefits the powerful.
However, when there is a choice to vote for a third party, an actual choice for someone who is better, we should take it. I understand this is considered a horrifying thing to do by both major parties and perhaps that ought to be a clue as to how important it might be to take that very action. The replacement of one major party by another, year after year has not gone well for the US or other people in the world. Refusing to allow ourselves to exercise another option may be something holding back real change.
Dredd, we Wisconsinites are celebrating! Beer all around!
I just skimmed this thread from late morning to now. Here’s what I like. Mostly women commenting. I have lamented that we have too few women here from almost the time I got here. The few women back in 2012 when I arrived were liberal. Now we have a good mix.
What I don’t like is the revisionists history. When I arrived here in 2012 there were no more than a handful of non liberals. although it’s impossible for liberals here to fathom, I am not fairly liberal on some issues. Anyway, there were few that were not far left. I was called, stupid, idiot, racist, homophobe, liar, wife beater, sociopath, and much more ON A REGULAR BASIS. Over the past year or so, more conservatives have joined, and a few, who were driven off by the brown shirts have returned. For liberals, if there are conservatives voicing cogent arguments, it’s time to leave. SWM has stayed. She dislikes me, but I don’t her. Here’s the thing, I don’t give a rat’s ass if someone likes me. I have plenty of friends. The news for liberals is about as bad as it has been since the Carter “malaise.” So, like the weasel Chris Matthews, they are jumping ship. When you whittle away all the sniping, the fact that this President and his policies have failed. That’s what is REALLY bothering the liberals here. Conservatives are merely pointing it out, and gloating a bit. I am guilty of that @ times. I also like to stick in the knife and turn it, I played hardball and worked in the rough and tumble world of high dollar litigation. The things I say here are tame compared to the world where I worked..the REAL WORLD. This is just small potatoes folks. It means nothing, really.
Finally, the most disgusting pathology occurring now, and I’ve see it happen on other blogs, is certain people changing aliases. Legal, but horseshit. SWM stands in there. Elaine does also, but she is a whiner and flopper. There was a good liberal woman named Blouise who left in the schism of January. That’s too bad. I hope she returns some time. I told Bettykath I’m glad she returned. I disagree w/ almost everything she says but she is HONEST. She says what many liberals here think but don’t have the balls to say.
Finally, there has been an intimation that DBQ and Squeeky may be the same. I can say, under oath, they are not. I KNOW they are 2 very different people from different parts of this great country. So, let’s stop that craziness now.
SMM and Emily,
Thank you both for answering directly. I appreciate that. I can’t agree with you that Obama is even mildly on the left. That’s just propaganda believed by both the right and left.
Obama’s positions are to the right of Bush. This means he just cannot counted as either a centrist or left wing person or marxist (unless Bush was a leftist, centrist or marxist, something I cannot think anyone believes).
The republican fascists who are trying to stop voting on the part of people who see through them have taken two hits recently.
In the supreme court and in Texas.
Lewis Black sees it too (We Got Your Voter Id Fascist Republicans).
I think the only thing that stopped voter ID was the closeness of the elections. I think they will be in place for the next election. However, given what the court has held, I am going to refuse ID at all federal buildings and demand entrance.
Pee Party Pot.
Pee Party Bold.
Pee Party in the Pot Nine Days Old.
America deserves exactly what they vote for. So if the RepubliCons take over the Senate then we deserve it. It is kind of like the Reichstag Fire Decree. All downhill from here.
BarkinDog – although I have advocated a veto over the candidates of other states, so far no one has taken me up on my offer. Because of that, it is still a Republic. We get what each state and district sends us. If I got to pick there would be a vastly different makeup. 🙂
Emily, ” He wasn’t nearly as far left as his detractors said he was, not even close.” Yep, he is kind of a centrist on most things, and certainly no marxist like the tea party calls him
Democrats have been known to think for themselves, many of us came out against Obama’s policies on some issues early on, especially after all the capitulating to Boehner regarding the Bush tax cuts.
Haha! Should be “disappointing”, but disassociating works too.
Jill, I most certainly think that Obama has made huge judgment errors, when it comes to drone strikes and overreaches, wars, etc. It’s incredibly
Dissociating and infuriating that he turned out to follow in Bush’s footsteps. He wasn’t nearyly as far left as his detractors said he was, not even close.
Emily – to say that Obama has made huge judgment errors presupposes that he has judgment to begin with or that he is the one making the decisions. Since he spends a lot of time outside the WH either vacationing, golfing or fund-raising, just when is he making these judgments.?
“If Democrats support the war on ISIS but find Obama unpopular, could it be that they also find him unpopular because he is not killing more people with more war?” Jill Yes there are some dems with neo con tendencies but many do not have them. Not really monolithic. …. I know democrats that protest for the rights of Palestinians and also some that are very pro-Israel.
Emily, Although you have every right to disagree with Tea Party positions, do you feel that Obama hasn’t done anything that you might criticize? For example, how do you feel about his statement that he may kill anyone, anywhere on his own say so? How do you feel about his mass surveillance policy? How do you feel about torture and false detention in Gitmo? Are you fine with these policies? Do you think it is acceptable to be critical of them whether in the Tea Party or as a leftist or a person of any party who has a conscience? Are we to remain silent in the face of these positions? Is that what you are arguing?
SMM,
I was hoping you would answer this question squarely. Are you able to answer it directly? Also, how is Emily right about the fleas? What writing are you referring to with that statement?
Your response is interesting. You write: ““So, if many Democrats support the war against ISIS, does this make him more or less popular with Democrats?” Jill Certainly does not look like it because he is not polling well with dems either.
Now earlier you claimed Obama was unpopular because the Tea party wanted him to be more warlike. If Democrats support the war on ISIS but find Obama unpopular, could it be that they also find him unpopular because he is not killing more people with more war?