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Washington Four weeks before Election Day, the specter of President Obama is everywhere Colorado, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia. In debate after debate Tuesday, Republicans inserted the unpopular president into the conversation early and often, goading Democratic Senate candidates into distancing themselves from Mr. Obama.

In races where an incumbent Democrat is running for reelection, the attacks were the same: You voted with the president 99 (or 96 or 97) percent of the time. And in races for open seats, Democrats were still portrayed as Obamas best friend.

The answers also came from a cookie-cutter: You are running against me, not President Obama, Democrats replied in lockstep.

In the North Carolina, Sen. Kay Hagan (D) was asked for ways in which she disagrees with Obama and the Democrats, and had no trouble answering: On the use of military force in Syria, she said, I have called on the president to bring that before Congress.

Senator Hagan, locked in a tight race with state House Speaker Thom Tillis (R), also called on Obama to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, expressed disapproval of trade deals that send too many jobs overseas, and said she had voted against my partys budget because it had too deep of cuts to the military.

In Virginia, Sen. Mark Warner (D) also put some distance between himself and Obama, despite the senators comfortable lead against GOP challenger Ed Gillespie. Like Hagan, Senator Warner voiced support for the Keystone pipeline. And he backed offshore drilling in Virginia, as long as the state shares in the revenue.

In West Virginia, underdog candidate Natalie Tennant (D) joined her Republican opponent, Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R) in opposing proposed regulations by the Environmental Protection Agency that would tighten standards on coal-burning power plants.

Political handicappers give Republicans a small advantage in their quest to retake control of the Senate, but nobody rules out Democrats chances of hanging on. The good news for both parties Tuesday was that nobody committed any major gaffes. The bad news for Democrats is that Obamas low job approvals hang like an anchor around their necks especially in red states.

Obama invited the distancing himself last week when he declared that his policies are on the ballot on Nov. 4. But Obama was already firmly on the ballot, in spirit if not literally, well before he made that remark.

The news wasnt all bad for the president Tuesday. Sen. Mark Udall (D) of Colorado, facing a stiff challenge from Rep. Cory Gardner (R), deflected efforts to get him to criticize the president. And he offered strong support for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the presidents signature initiative.

Read more from the original source:
Barack who? Democrats flee Obama in Tuesday Senate debates.