.png)
WASHINGTON – Democrats could get walloped in the November elections. The party gets sleepy and distracted in the midterms. And its supporters simply may not show up to vote.
Those aren’t hopeful predictions from Republicans. They’re the dire warnings of President Barack Obama, who is seeking to gin up enthusiasm for the midterm elections from party activists already looking toward the 2016 race to replace him.
The remainder of his presidency hangs on Democratic performance in the November contest. If voters hand the Senate over to Republican control, Obama will lose even the uphill chance he has to get legislation passed in his remaining time in office.
“I hope that just because I’m not on the ballot that people aren’t going to take it easy this time because the ideas I care about and am fighting for are on the ballot,” he said to about 75 donors who paid $5,000 to $20,000 to hear him speak over dinner Wednesday night at a Boston art gallery.
Obama’s challenge is to set an agenda for a party not always embracing him, especially after the problems with his health care law. There are areas of the country where he can’t campaign since he would only be a drag on more moderate Democratic candidates.
“Our message to candidates is: How can we help?” White House political director David Simas said in an interview. If showing up for a rally isn’t the answer in moderate districts, he said the president can give candidates a boost by raising money and setting a national debate on economic opportunity.
“The president is the only individual who can really set what the national narrative is going to be,” he said.
Democratic Party leaders say perhaps the most important asset Obama can contribute to the midterm is his voter network data and technology, which delivered decisive victories in both his presidential campaigns.
“We are really good at presidential elections these days, if I do say so myself,” Obama said to laughter from about four dozen donors gathered Tuesday night in the suburban Washington dining room of former Virginia Sen. Chuck Robb to raise money for Senate candidates. But he said in midterms, “we get a little sleepy, we get a little distracted. We don’t turn out to vote. We don’t fund campaigns as passionately.”
Obama said he feared there could be a repeat of 2010, when the Democratic Party suffered a sweeping defeat nationwide and lost control of the House.
“We paid a dear price for not paying enough attention to these midterm elections,” the president said. “We cannot repeat that same mistake this year.”
The crowd was bathed in blue lighting that made the event feel more like a gala than a fundraiser.
“Too often, when there’s not a presidential election we don’t think it’s sexy, we don’t think it’s interesting. People tune out. And because the electorate has changed, we get walloped,” the president said. “It’s happened before and it could happen again if we do not fight on behalf of the things we care about in this election.”
