In trips to Michigan, North Carolina and Pennsylvania -- all states that he carried in 2008 -- members of Congress were notably missing from the president's side. Though none came out and said they were deliberately avoiding him, they didn't have to: Dodging a presidential candidate who's riding low in the polls is a time-honored political practice.The past three elections -- the Sept. 13 House special elections in New York and Nevada and the Oct. 4 West Virginia gubernatorial special election -- haven't done much to inspire confidence about Obama's ability to help the entire ticket: The president was unquestionably an anchor on the Democratic nominees in each race.
For Obama, who has led a charmed political life since bursting onto the national stage in 2004 -- he was in high demand on the campaign trail even before he won his Senate seat that year -- it's a harbinger of a humbling election year to come.
In North Carolina, only Sen. Kay Hagan,
Niece of former senator and Florida governor Lawton Chiles, married to a "transaction lawyer," who has a net worth between $10.7 million and $40 million. He is a former Democrat ward heeler, which explains a lot. She defeated the listless Elizabeth Dole in 2008.
who isn't up for reelection until 2014, and veteran Rep. Mel Watt,
Representative for life from North Carolina's very safe 12th Congressional District. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor called the 12th District's gerrymandered shape "bizarre."
who represents a majority black district, appeared with the president. The state's six other Democratic House members took a pass, offering a variety of excuses.
"[Obama] may end up being Walter Mondale
Jimmy Carter's vice president, who was trounced by Ronald Reagan in 1984, losing every state except for his home state of Minnesota and the District of Columbia.
of 1984," said Raleigh-based Democratic strategist Brad Crone, recalling that the only elected official who risked being seen with the party's nominee that year was the longtime agriculture commissioner.
When Obama visited Pittsburgh, Pa., two weeks ago, the story was much the same -- no members of Congress to be found. Though two of southwestern Pennsylvania's three Democratic congressmen greeted the president on the airport tarmac, neither of them attended any of the public events Obama held, choosing instead to return to Washington.
"Southwest Pennsylvania has become over time a difficult place for Democrats because of the perception they are left of center," said T.J. Rooney, a former Pennsylvania Democratic Party chairman and state politician.
Some Democrats believe that attempts to keep a distance from the president can only backfire. Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell
... who has been a professional politician since 1977, about the same length of time Ali Abdullah Saleh has been in office in Yemen ...
called it "political idiocy" for Democrats to purposefully avoid a president from their own party.