They’re literally fighting for Obama’s mantle, which seems to violate the “new tone”. Very violent rhetoric. Not quite as violent as Joe Biden telling me that “We’ve all got a dog in this fight.” I thought dog fighting was barbaric, violent, and illegal. So, if anyone gets caught dog fighting, blame Joe. Anyway
(Politico) While some Democrats are loathe to be linked to President Barack Obama in the 2012 cycle, others are doing just the opposite – they’re fighting over who is the president’s most faithful disciple.
It’s a dynamic that’s playing out in hard-fought Democratic congressional primaries, where candidates are appealing to liberal constituencies where support for the president runs high.
In New Jersey, Reps. Steve Rothman and Bill Pascrell, two sitting Democratic members competing in a primary, are at war over who has been more supportive of Obama’s policies. The conflict was on full display at January’s State of the Union address, where both Democrats seemed to go out of the way to greet the president in view of a national TV audience.
There’s good reason for both lawmakers to embrace Obama so forcefully. They are competing for a northern New Jersey-based 9th District seat that is heavily Democratic and that will almost certainly back Obama over the eventual GOP nominee.
This is a situation that plays out a whopping seven more times, with Democrat candidates in extremely Democrat districts saying they loves them some Obama!
Even in 2012, there are also more conservative districts where being too close to the president isn’t an asset. In the primary for a vacant Oklahoma House seat, for example, neither of the Democratic candidates running makes any attempt to mention the president on their campaign websites.
“It’s totally dependent on how competitive a district it is in the general,†said Andrew Myers, a Democratic pollster who has counted many House members and candidates as clients. “When it’s a safe seat, I think it’s a good image to have. It telegraphs that you’re a Democrat to folks. If you’re in a 50-50 district, you have to be careful about embracing it.â€
Forget about even mentioning Obama, Democrats only want to reveal they are Democrats in safe Democrat districts. It’s almost like they are afraid to let people link them with the far left agenda which includes Obamacare, nanny stateism, massive spending, the failed Stimulus, reducing the military, coddling Iran, opposing Israel, and building more debt and bigger deficits than ever before.
“There are absolutely places where Obama is really popular. He’s a polarizing figure — people either love him or hate him,†said Dave Beattie, a Democratic pollster who has worked on many House races. “Anytime the race is for a seat that has a high percentage of African American voters, your support for the president and what he’s doing is going to be part of the narrative.â€
Apparently, there are only a few, since Politico was only able to mention nine Dems, and many of them are competing against each other for the same Congressional seat.
