President Barack Obama expressed frustration over the why issues not favorable to Democrats seem to be getting so much more attention than issues that are favorable to Democrats in the midterm elections.
President Barack Obama greets players during an unannounced stop to surprise members of the Northwest little league baseball teams at Friendship park in Washington, Monday, May 19, 2014. Obama stopped to meet with the players before heading off to a private Democratic fundraiser. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
“The debate we’re having right now is about, what, Benghazi? Obamacare?” Obama said, according to the official White House transcript of a fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee at a private home in Potomac, Maryland. “And it becomes this endless loop. It’s not serious. It’s not speaking to the real concerns that people have.”
Obama made the assertion just weeks after the House of Representatives established a select committee of 12 members to investigate the Benghazi terrorist attack from Sept. 11, 2012, and how the Obama administration responded.
Democrats in midterm campaigns are further fending off a continuing stream of bad news about the president's signature legislative achievement, the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.
A Politico poll this week found that 60 percent believe the debate over Obamacare should not be over, while 89 percent say the health law will affect how they vote in November 2014.
Just last week, a Fox News poll showed that 54 percent believe the Obama administration has been deceitful about the Benghazi attack – where four Americans were killed, including Ambassador Chris Stevens – while 51 percent believe the administration specifically lied to help Obama get reelected in 2012.
“These midterms are critical and if you look at where we stand on issues, the public is on our side on almost all of them,” Obama said. “Minimum wage—majority of the people agree with us. Comprehensive immigration reform—people agree with us; they know that immigration is going to help drive this economy forward. Equal pay for equal work—there should be no debate about it. On issue after issue, people believe what we believe.”
However, polling has shown those issues do not rank as highly as Obamacare among voters in importance.
The president told the Democratic donors perceptions of the health law, with more than 8 million enrollees will change.
“First of all, in five years it will no longer be called Obamacare, because when something is working they’re definitely not going to—there will be a whole renaming process similar to national,” Obama said. “I don’t know if it will be 'Reagancare,' but it will definitely be—it will be something different.”
Obama said the problem is that too many Americans believe government can't get anything done and blame both parties, and accused Republicans of promoting cynicism.
“Well, you know what, when Nancy Pelosi was Speaker, we got a lot done and it made a big difference to the people and it helped folks,” Obama said. “And so if we are to push back against the cynicism that is always good for Republicans—because it means folks don’t vote—then we’ve got to win these midterms and we’ve got to be serious about it. We have to have the same sense of urgency that we do when presidential candidates are at the top of the ballot. We turn out during presidential elections; we don’t in midterms. Our voters do not and that’s why an event like this is so important. We know how to turn folks out. We’ve got to make sure that we’ve got the resources to do it.”
