If you thought that only Herman Cain and Rick Perry have bad news, think again: President Barack Obama is now facing the prospect that some Democrats are refusing to back him. The Politico reports:
Sen. Joe Lieberman was treated like an outcast back in 2008 when he broke from the Senate Democratic Caucus and openly opposed Barack Obama’s bid for the White House.
Asked last week if he’d back Obama in 2012, the Connecticut independent said, “I don’t know what I’m going to do.
I was back in CT a few weeks ago. Lieberman is not hugely popular there. (My 90 year old mother met him years ago and to this day says he seemed to be “a sourpuss,” although others who’ve met Lieberman had a more favorable reaction). And it has been clear now that>Lieberman isn’t from the old Kennedy Democrat school or any other specific school except the school of Joe Lieberman — which left him open to being unfairly demonized by the Democratic Party’s far left and solidified a mutual disdain that continues today.
This time around, there may be more Liebermans.
A number of moderate Democrats like Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar and liberals like Sen. Bernie Sanders are declining to give their unqualified support for the president, saying they’re either too focused on their own races or are calling on the White House to cater to their agendas before they will offer an endorsement. Some up for reelection in red states or in swing districts fear that even showing up on stage with Obama will give their opponents an image to seize upon — much as Democrats did in 2008 when they repeatedly flashed shots of Sen. John McCain hugging President George W. Bush.
So as the president faces the dual challenges of energizing his base while wooing moderates, some Democrats in Congress are keeping their distance, with the president’s approval rating hovering in the mid-40s — and even lower in states like West Virginia, where moderate Sen. Joe Manchin is up for reelection.
“I’m supporting the state of West Virginia and the people of West Virginia,” the freshman Democrat said, when asked if he backed the president’s reelection bid.
Informed that West Virginia won’t be on the ballot next year, Manchin chuckled and said: “You don’t know that. You know something I don’t know?”
What we do know is that this story is most assuredly accurate. But, also most assuredly, when the time comes and it is Barack Obama running against Mitt Romney or the Anti-Romney, some of these Democrats will be out there campaigning with Obama. And those that don’t may wish they did if he wins re-election.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.