Democrat’s Distancing from Obama’s Tepid Tea Party; big Fear Factor?

Democrats distancing themselves from Obama's tepid performance on the economy—anticipating next Thursday's renewed pledge to place sagging jobs performance firmly at Congress' feet—will miss out on a fear factor, "perfect storm" presented them:

Fear Rules! Moderate voter's greater fear of tea-party extremism will outweigh fears that four more years of Obama will leave them even worse off than ever. Partisans won't budge in any event. If a signee of Tea Party pledges to abolish taxes and re-make U.S. the Republic of Christian America, Republican candidates cannot. These pledges aren't like oaths of office. They're sacrosanct!

This hasn't deterred Pete DeFazio, an incumbent Democrat whose district almost fell to Republican George W. Bush in 2004. Though Oregon is a Red Sea of counties, the Blue Islands of the Willamette River corridor virtually always overrule State-wide.

Pete is an outspoken, straight-talking politician who's earned the voters' respect. So when distancing himself from Obama, with the term "fight" isn't "in his vocabulary," his constituency's fears are confirmed.

Swimming cross-country from the backwaters of Oregon to the Republican-friendly district of Rep. Bill Owens, D-N.Y., (who won this coveted district in a special election last year): There's a sea change going on here. Unlike then, when Owens victoriously linked himself to the Obama agenda—less than two years ago—last week, he was pointedly distancing himself from the president.

In Nevada, Republican's strategy is to stick the president's track record to the Democrat's nominee, Kate Marshall, like a political tar-baby, in a district where Obama won 49% in 2008. Both parties expect this to work there! This might work well in battleground states and crucial swing districts, as well.

According to the linked article by Alex Roarty and Beth Reinhard, "The sting of Obama's low approval ratings is already being felt in Queens and Brooklyn, where Republican candidate Bob Turner has turned the Democratic-leaning district into a battleground by framing the special election as a referendum on the administration and its treatment of Israel. Liberal firebrand Anthony Weiner held onto that district with ease for more than a decade, and even when scandal forced him out of office, few had thought the race to replace him would be close."

Shunning this distancing, many more-sensible veteran Democrats realize the overall implications of the latest polling: Though showing Obama's approval is bumping along the politically sandy shoals—running even with Republican contender Mitt Romney and Tea Party GOP candidate Rick Perry—the fear factor is on Democrat's side. Running as a moderate voice and ignoring Obama's poor performance should assuage voters scared by what they witness on CNN's Tea Party debate, Sept. 12!

Like the Bull Moose Party which split Republicans at a critical juncture in 1912, fear of these factions may split the Democrat's opposition in GOP primaries... then cleave the moderate majority's hearts unto them!

A question remains: Who, in the Democratic Primary, would Owens, DeFazio, or any distancing Democrat support as an alternative to Obama from within their party? Perhaps a candidate to be the first woman U.S. president?

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