Manchin tries to lift Democrats caught under Obama’s weight

Red state Democrats would like to send a message to President Obama: Please stop trying to help.

Democratic candidates in West Virginia and many other conservative states have spent a lot of time, energy and money trying to convince the electorate that they are not like Obama, but the President keeps wedging his way back into the equation.

Earlier this month the President said that while he may not be on the ballot, his policies are “on every single one of them.”  That set off another flurry of “I’m-not-like-Obama” declarations by Democratic candidates.

Then Monday, the President added more weight to the yoke that members of his party are carrying.  “The bottom line is, though, these are all folks who vote with me; they have supported my agenda in Congress,” the President told Al Sharpton in a radio interview, “so this isn’t about my feelings being hurt. These are folks who are strong allies and supporters of me.”

Secretary of State and U.S. Senate candidate Natalie Tennant must wish she could have cut the power to that interview, just as she turned off the lights to the White House in her TV ad.

Senator Joe Manchin, who maneuvers the political winds as well as anyone, told the Washington Post this week “there’s nothing in these states that he (Obama) can do” to help moderate, vulnerable Democrats.

Manchin, however, is trying to do his part.  The state’s soon-to-be senior Senator has cut television ads for Congressman Nick Rahall, who is running for re-election in the 3rd District, and Nick Casey for his campaign in the 2nd District race against Republican Alex Mooney.

The Casey ad is an attention-getter because of its language.  The announcer says, “A conservative magazine called Alex Mooney a political prostitute.”  Later in the ad, Manchin appears with Casey and says, “Alex Mooney is not one of us.”  You can watch the ad here.

Manchin told me on Talkline that his appearance on such a hard-hitting ad does not conflict with his co-chairmanship of the No Labels caucus, which stresses bi-partisan cooperation.

“I’m just trying to find people that will work in the middle,” Manchin said.  “You don’t see me going to the radicals on either side and I’m not beating up on either side.”

The retiring Senator Jay Rockefeller, who suffers from a bad back, has been subdued during this campaign. That leaves the heavy lifting to Manchin, who’s finding that pulling fellow Democrats across the finish line gets even more difficult every time President Obama injects himself, adding drag to the midterm ticket.





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