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Running away from an unpopular president of your own party is a time-honored tactic in midterm elections. The problem is that it rarely works.

That is even truer than usual for the current crop of endangered Senate Democrats. Their efforts to distance themselves from President Obamas record rather than defend it has become a source of friction with the White House.

Ive always believed that its not an effective strategy to run against a president of your own party, unless youve been actively opposed to that president, said David Axelrod, who was Obamas top political strategist in his two presidential campaigns and a senior adviser in his White House. Youre going to get tagged with it anyway.

With so many Democrats trying to suggest a distance from Obama that doesnt exist, Axelrod added, its natural for the president and his team to be a little frustrated.

Another senior Democrat who advises the White House, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the current feeling among Obama and his aides is exasperation.

He doesnt think they have any reason to run away from him, the adviser said. He thinks there is a strong message there.

The president has hinted at the tension in recent remarks. Make no mistake, these policies are on the ballot, every single one of them, Obama said earlier this month. He restated the obvious a few weeks later in a radio interview when he said of the Democratic senators who are struggling this year: The bottom line is ... these are all folks who vote with me; they have supported my agenda in Congress.

Those comments spawned a barrage of Republican attack ads and a bout of frustration with Obama among Democrats at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. Even Axelrod deemed the first one a mistake, telling NBCs Meet the Press, I wouldnt put that line in there.

But a new issue of Congressional Quarterly brings fresh evidence that Senate Democrats have maintained a tight formation behind the president, even as his approval ratings have sunk. It analyzed the 120 Senate votes on which Obama has urged a yes or no this year, and found that the most vulnerable Democrats stood behind him a minimum of 96percent of the time.

Those kinds of numbers have become standard fare in Republican ads and speeches, but they stand in contrast to the Democrats own campaign rhetoric. Colorados Mark Udall (99percent support, by CQs count) has said that he is the last person they want to see coming at the White House, while Alaskas Mark Begich (98percent) has described himself as a thorn in [Obamas posterior]. Theres times when Im a total thorn, you know, and he doesnt appreciate it.

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Can Democrats hold the Senate by running away from Obama and their own records?

Dialing for dollars: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) Attention, Democratic lawmakers: Your party needs money for the midterms.

Thats what Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader, told colleagues on Tuesday, according to Politico. She said theres an urgent need to give money to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in the final days before next weeks elections. Politico reported on a caucus-wide, members-only conference call in which Pelosi and DCCC Chairman Steve Israel stressed members needed to quickly pay their party dues so Democrats would have cash for last-minute ads and get-out-the-vote programs.

Pelosi and John Boehner, the House speaker, are both hitting the road this week for the home stretch before the midterms, National Journal writes. Boehner, the Ohio Republican, will be in West Virginia on Wednesday to campaign for state Sen. Evan Jenkins in his bid to unseat Democrat Rep. Nick Rahall. Boehner was in Illinois on Tuesday, campaigning for state Rep. Mike Bost. Pelosi will be in her hometown of San Francisco on Thursday for a gathering of major donors. Her staff said she may also travel to Florida, New York and Puerto Rico before Tuesdays elections.

Clinton in Colorado: Democrats are pulling out all the stops, including appearances by former President Bill Clinton, in their uphill battle to keep the Colorado governors mansion and one of the states two Senate seats. USA Today writes President Barack Obamas unpopularity is weighing down both Gov. John Hickenlooper and Sen. Mark Udall. Clinton appeared at Denver-area rallies Monday night and Tuesday morning, calling on voters to reject Republicans and keep the Democrats in office. Last week, a USA Today/Suffolk University poll showed Republican Cory Gardner leading Udall 46% to 39%.

Reconsidering reconciliation: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday it would take 60 votes in the Senate to repeal Obamacare, despite previously suggesting the law could be erased with a simple majority. McConnell, a Kentucky Republican who will be majority leader if the GOP wins the Senate, previously suggested the so-called reconciliation process could be used to repeal Obamacare. That process requires just 51 votes. McConnell said no one thinks President Obama would sign full repeal. But, as the Hill reports, McConnell did say the GOP will adopt a piecemeal approach to rolling back the law if Republicans win the majority. He listed the individual mandate to buy insurance and the medical-device tax as targets.

Shift for business groups: The Wall Street Journal reports business groups gave more money to Republican candidates than to Democrats in seven of the most competitive Senate races in recent months. Thats a significant shift, the Journal explains. Political-action committees created by businesses had given 61% of their donations in those races to Democrats this election cycle through June. That reversed in the closing months of the campaign, with just 42% going to Democrats and 58% to Republicans in the July-to-September quarter, according to a Journal analysis of Federal Election Commission filings.

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Capitol Report: Democrats have urgent need for cash, Nancy Pelosi says

One of the most interesting numbers in the new Washington Post-ABC News poll is buried deep within the cross tabs.

The poll shows that, on the generic ballot, the GOP leads 50-44 among all likely voters. But among unmarried women, Democrats have a48-43 edge.

That might seem to be a good thing for Democrats, except that they count on single women in a much biggerway -- in fact, so much so thatthis demographic is routinely highlighted as the key to Democrats keepingthe Senate.

"To Hold Senate, Democrats Rely on Single Women," wrote the New York Times in July. The group Women's Voices Women Vote Action Fund commissioned a poll from a Democratic pollster around the same time and headlined it, "New Poll: Unmarried Women Voters Could Make the Difference in Senate Battleground States. Then, when thesupport for Democrats among single women in that same poll doubled, Real Clear Politics reported, "Unmarried Women Fuel Pollster's Optimism for Dems."

It makes sense. After all, this is a big portion of the so-called "Obama coalition" -- voters whoare less apt to vote in midterms but turned out big for the presidentin 2008 and 2012 and voted for him by huge margins. Also in that coalition are African American, Hispanics and young people. Unmarried women, though, comprise a significantlybigger share of eligible voters than the others: about 25 percent.

Over the last four elections, here's how the unmarried-woman vote has looked:

As you can see, all of these margin are much larger than five points. Democrats have won unmarried women by between 25 and 41 points each of the past four elections. Obama won 70 percent of them in 2008, to just 29 percent for John McCain.

Of course, we shouldn't read too much into one poll, and breaking out small sub-samples (this poll interviews 228 registered unmarried woman voters and 151 who are considered "likely" to vote on Nov. 4) results in high margins of error. The idea that unmarried women will only favor Democrats by five points next week is probablyfar-fetched, and the margin of error means that five-point margin couldbe significantly higher.

Indeed, recent polls from AP-GfK and the Pew Research Center show unmarried women favoring Democrats by 14 and 20 points, respectively.And the Democratic pollster referenced above, Democracy Corps, showed the gap at 22 points.

But all fourof these polls still show smaller margins than have exited overthe last four elections. In other words, all of these polls show this group is a precarious one for Democrats, though none of them indicate women will definitely favor Democrats by less than in recent races.

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The Fix: Single women are turning into a huge question mark for Democrats

Mark Levin on Hannity: Vote For Democrats If You Like Border Chaos And Debt
Levin noted that incumbent Democrats who are now pretending they don #39;t support Obama have supported his policies ObamaCare, amnesty, and massive deficit spending. And all this is...

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Mark Levin on Hannity: Vote For Democrats If You Like Border Chaos And Debt - Video

The week in politics: Democrats feel the #39;Obama effect #39;
USA TODAY #39;s Paul Singer breaks down this week #39;s top political headlines. This week, there #39;s a big lead in a Colorado poll, Obama may be hurting his party com...

By: USA TODAY

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The week in politics: Democrats feel the 'Obama effect' - Video