Filed under: News, Politics, President Obama
Coming through Chicago's political battlefields and surviving a bruising national campaign has undoubtedly made President Barack Obama thick-skinned.
But if he wasn't, he might be crying into his pillow at night, since it seems he is as welcomed as ants at a cookout in at least two states by fellow Democrats running for office.
During a recent Obama trip to Georgia, Democrat Roy Barnes (pictured right), who is seeking another term as governor, avoided Obama like the plague.
The no-shows for Obama continued yesterday as he visited Texas. There, Democratic candidate for governor Bill White found something else to do as Republican Gov. Rick Perry welcomed Obama to the state.
It doesn't take a political genius to understand that Democratic candidates in two conservative states like Georgia and Texas fear that appearing to be too close to Obama could cost them moderate votes in their respective elections.
Opinion polls show that the public likes Obama far more than the policies that have come out of his administration.
I wonder if the political calculus performed by both Barnes and White in avoiding Obama may actually hurt their campaigns, especially among blacks and other progressive voters.
Anyone who would vote against a candidate for simply shaking Obama's hand at the airport or paying the respect that is due to a sitting president would have voted against Obama in any case.
Meanwhile, it is possible that Obama supporters might be put off so much by White and Barnes' actions that they decide to stay home on Election Day.
Both White and Barnes turned their backs on Obama. Will black and liberal voters in Georgia and Texas do the same to them?