President Barack Obama says he loves Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) — just not quite enough to hazard an 11th-hour political trip to Pennsylvania for an ally of convenience increasingly viewed as unlikely to win.
Just last year, the White House was crowing about Specter’s conversion to the Democratic Party, and Obama pledged, “He will have my full support. . .”
Tuesday’s primary is telling a different story: Once thought to be an unalloyed asset for most any Democratic candidate, Obama’s personal involvement is no longer guaranteed — or guaranteed to succeed.
In close to a dozen contests, Obama’s intervention hasn’t paid dividends — whether in picking winners in a party squabble like Pennsylvania, recruiting candidates for targeted seats, or on the stump in the final days of close contests in Massachusetts, Virginia and New Jersey.
It’s a phenomenon that illustrates how even Obama is struggling — and often failing — to control the same political forces that dislodged veteran lawmakers like Sen. Robert Bennett (R-Utah) and Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.). With voters angry and channeling their discontent toward Washington, even the president doesn't command as much power over the electorate or strike as much fear in the hearts of his own party. - Politico Story
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