When Do Dems Set Obama Adrift — or Can They?

RICOCHET.COM

Since his re-election, the news has been unrelentingly bad for President Obama. Scandal after scandal has emerged, be it NSA spying, IRS targeting Americans over politics, new Benghazi revelations, questions about the drone program, and on and on.

Many of these issues have faded from the news cycle (to cries of media bias from conservatives) but none have been resolved. They have turned into zombie scandals, popping up again and again whenever the news cycle has a slow day. "60 Minutes" features another Benghazi expose, the international press reveals allegations that the NSA listened in on Angela Merkel’s calls. If not resolved, all of these scandals will stalk the White House until Obama leaves office.

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Then, there’s Obamacare. The three-and-a-half-year train wreck has only just left the station. Flames shoot from the wheels, cars continue to jump the rails, and an endless parade of sympathetic maidens are tied to the track ahead. If you think the reporting is damaging now, wait until journalists come back from their complaint-filled Thanksgiving meals with extended family.

On the stump yesterday, Vice President Biden didn’t once mention his boss by name. MSNBC and Huffington Post contributor Howard Fineman reports “Joe Biden Had Nothing Nice To Say About Obama At Virginia Rally.” A mere oversight or the start of a trend?

I don’t see how Democrats can detach themselves from their president too publicly before the 2014 elections. Still, nervous representatives and senators already are hedging their bets with talk of delaying Obamacare and somehow reforming the awful law.

At what point do Democrats decide President Obama does more harm to their grand progressive dream than help? In the next few months? After the midterms? Never? And if certain Democrats want to do so, how can they avoid alienating those who view Obama as a secular messiah?

Pouty Obama photograph via ChameleonsEye / Shutterstock.com.