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.
“Pete said: “when a citizen walks into a voting booth the lever(s) he/she pulls are no ones business but their own.” ” Dust bunny Yep, pete is right.The right to a secret ballot should be protected. Elected officials should be able to enjoy this right. also, unless they chose otherwise.
paulette, Those are the words of Frank Rich.
Pete said: “when a citizen walks into a voting booth the lever(s) he/she pulls are no ones business but their own.”
And Pete is entirely correct when a “private” citizen votes it IS no one’s business. Don’t ask and none of your business.
However, when you decide to become a public figure and ask for OUR votes to send you to Congress to represent us . We need to understand what your mindset is and what it might be in the future. You are obligated to make your voting record clear, transparent and public. Your past actions might indicate your future actions.
How do we know you aren’t a secret KKK voter? How do we know that you are a closet John Bircher? The only way to know is by your past actions. What you SAY you believe in versus what you actually voted FOR.
You are not allowed to HIDE from us.
SWM ~ well said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/opinion/29rich.html?_r=0 ” ANOTHER weekend, another grass-roots demonstration starring Real Americans who are mad as hell and want to take back their country from you-know-who. Last Sunday the site was Lower Manhattan, where they jeered the “ground zero mosque.” This weekend, the scene shifted to Washington, where the avatars of oppressed white Tea Party America, Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin, were slated to “reclaim the civil rights movement” (Beck’s words) on the same spot where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. had his dream exactly 47 years earlier.
There’s just one element missing from these snapshots of America’s ostensibly spontaneous and leaderless populist uprising: the sugar daddies who are bankrolling it, and have been doing so since well before the “death panel” warm-up acts of last summer. Three heavy hitters rule. You’ve heard of one of them, Rupert Murdoch. The other two, the brothers David and Charles Koch, are even richer, with a combined wealth exceeded only by that of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett among Americans. But even those carrying the Kochs’ banner may not know who these brothers are. “
take a civics class, nick. you may ask all you want, it is entirely her right to vote for who she pleases. maybe she voted for romney? i bet jesus got a bunch of calls pre-election in the bible belt about voting for a morman.
and you’ve never been anything but lame, brown nose.
Karen, “Tea Party, Koch Brothers” are mindless rants from the party in shambles.
DBQ is entirely correct. There is no unified “Tea Party.” It’s a grassroots organization that started in opposition to over taxation and government waste. It’s not restricted to any one party. Anyone can form their own local Tea Party, hence these groups can vary greatly across regions.
pete is getting more and more lame. This guy used to be sharp and funny. Medical records, financial records, VOTING RECORDS are all fair game and need to be disclosed by elected officials. Geez!!! This was an EASY question. Here’s the answer. “I am a Democrat, I voted for Barack Obama as did THE MAJORITY of people in this country. This woman shouldn’t be allowed to serve on a city council, much less the US Senate. But, she won’t be in the Senate, so there’s that.
Eic mochter ein RepubliCon fur mein Fuhrer.
Paul, professor Turley captures the lie: It does not play well, as shown on this video, but they [politicians] assume it is worse to admit even the slightest level of prior support for an unpopular president.
Since a politician does nothing but lie, they are justified in their assumption that any direct question is the car catching them in its headlights.
Brooklyn Bridge – you probably believe that criminal suspects give themselves away if they do not respond to a question. A non-answer is an affirmative.
when a citizen walks into a voting booth the lever(s) he/she pulls are no ones business but their own.
That’s what I like about you Paul, see I knew you weren’t all bad. 🙂
See you in after the 17th! Have fun.
Annie – you are not fooling anyone. You have been here everyday. You are as transparent as the tree.
The point here is that she [Grimes ] should not hesitate to answer this question. If she voted for Obama, she voted for him. If she now disagrees with his policies, she needs to state which ones and why. The fact that she is not able to do this in a direct manner does not speak well of her.
That sums it up, in fact, Jill nails it, …but. Politicians of all stripes spend their lives lying. It’s not just what they do, it’s literally all they do. Well, no; they lie and they shill for the benefit of big business, big finance, and big gun – the MIC, ultimately for what they imagine is in their own interests. They are so devious by comparison they make lawyers look like Jim Carrey in Liar Liar. So the last thing on earth that would ever occur to one of them would be to tell the truth simply and frankly, which is something that comes naturally to Jill, probably something she imagines is easy for others, and hence the straight forward answer: admit vote, explain difference of opinion (easy).
Simple for Jill, but not for Grimes. Grimes heard the question and immediately thought to herself, “Damn it to hell, I’m trapped – how do I lie my way out of this one? Smile. Don’t say anything… Think…Ugg, brain freeze…”
And anyone who thinks a Republican politician would operate differently (perhaps more smoothly) is nuts.
Brooklyn Bridge – I don’t think she was trying to lie her way out of it, just figure out how to graceful avoid the issue. She never figured out that way.
Hi Paul, you should be honored I came out of my hiatus for you. But I have an important question to ask you. So why aren’t you joining the great Spinelli and Olly “conspiracy”? A little birdie told me all about it, strange thing about birdies, sometimes they’re ‘double agents’. Intrigue on the Turley blog!
Annie – no one speaks for me and I not only follow my own drummer I have a fri**gin orchestra.
Nick, or is it part of being a “Dick” (like the little blond lady called you yesterday) to the ladies of the Turley blog? You’re in deep Nick, would be a shame if you went in over your head.
Annie – I was wrong. You are not going to make a legitimate contribution. You know the Vikings are Scandinavians, not German, right? And the ritual for burying a dead leader was for all his court to get a young virgin drunk, rape her and put her on the body of the leader. Then set the boat afire and set it adrift. I just am not sure I would associate myself with the name Viking.
squeeky, like attracts like, so idiots attract idiots, who will continue to defend their idols , no matter what…
thats the 3D chess by our beloved historical president, you just do not understand the workings of our highly intelligent president…
Nick, old boy. You need to cool it, it almost looks as if you’ve been “investigating” someone here, “POF “? What does a dating site have to do with anything or anyone here? That’s creepy man.
Annie – good to see you back. Are you going to make a legitimate contribution today?
Well, who can blame her for not wanting to admit she voted for the idiot??? What surprises me is the number of people who do admit voting for Obama in 2012. Have they no pride, or sense of shame???
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter