It isn't that Dems should've actively run with Obama - it's that they should've run on the success.
I get that Obama is not popular in places like Kentucky, Georgia and even Colorado (though, I suspect he's more popular there than the GOP) - so, holding a rally with him or prominently displaying him in an advertisement isn't necessarily an effective strategy. Even so, as Democrats ran away from the president, they also ran away from the success of the last six years. It's the problem Democrats have had since Obama became president - they don't sell it. The ACA? Too many Democrats talk about retooling it and fixing it instead of focusing on how many people it's helped. Did Grimes run any ads in Kentucky showcasing their local exchange and the people it's hurt - hammering it into the voters' heads that McConnell will DO AWAY WITH IT?
When you run against Obama, or away from him, you're indirectly, and in some cases directly, saying he's failed - that this country is NOT better than it was under the GOP back in 2008. If that's your closing argument, you're going to lose.
Why vote for a Democrat when you're openly admitting your party pretty much has done nothing the last six years?
Unemployment is at its lowest since the recession. Gas prices are lower. The stock market is up. Health costs are down - and instead of focusing on all of that, too many Democrats tried to show the voting electorate just how much they weren't Obama.
Well Obama IS the Democratic Party. You can't escape him. No party can escape the sitting president. So, if you're running against him, you're pretty much running against the Democratic Party.
The only alternative to the Democrats is the Republicans. So, by not playing up Obama's accomplishments, even if you don't have to mention his name directly, you're playing right into the GOP narrative that the last six years have been the worst we've seen in American history. That message is damning to the voter. It's basically telling 'em, "yeah, our president sucks ... I might be a Democrat ... but I'll be different. Promise!"
It didn't work for the GOP in 2006 or the Dems in 1994 - it didn't work for 'em in 2010, either. It surely wasn't going to work for 'em in 2014. The best, and most successful path to victory, was always playing up the success of the last six years. But Democrats fail at messaging, and yes, this also includes the White House.
= new reply since forum marked as read
