Mediaboss Marketing

Oct 21, 2014 9:07am

By MICHAEL FALCONE (@michaelpfalcone)

NOTABLES

THE ROUNDTABLE

ABCs RICK KLEIN: His feelings will be the least of his worries, if the Senate winds up tipping. President Obamas latest comments linking endangered Democrats with his agenda these are all folks who vote with me was hardly a necessary link for 2014. His previous comments -not to mention the Democrats own voting records made that connection quite effectively. But the presidents moves to hammer that point home, and taking personal responsibility for making sure that our voters turn out, ensure that the comments will be remembered in 2015 and 2016, too. The quotes are teed up for post-election analyses. The president is putting himself, and his agenda, more explicitly on the line. If voters reject the candidates, it follows that theyre rejecting his agenda in Congress. Those judgments, of course, last two years Obamas last in office.

ABCs JOHN PARKINSON: Wal-Mart Moms, identified as women who shop at the super chain at least once a month with a child under 18-years-old, believe Washington is out of touch. In two focus groups in battlegrounds in Charlotte, N.C. and New Orleans, La., none of the women, who largely considered themselves independents and undecided voters, knew much about the candidates despite millions of dollars in advertising. They think its a choice between the lesser of two evils. These swing voters make up between 14 to 17 percent of the electorate, according to Public Opinion Strategies. All expressed negative views of the direction the country is heading, particularly on foreign affairs and border security. The women had a lot of questions about Ebola. They think the government doesnt have it under control but dont believe Ebola will likely infect them. They arent flying. They want the president to ban travel from the region. The CDC is behind the ball, and the government is playing catch up. While the women who participated in the focus groups have an overwhelmingly negative perception of Congress, none held such deep opinions about the candidates on the ballot in two weeks. Instead, they plan to cram for Election Day like a test, googling the information they need to make a decision the night before they head to the polls.

ABCs JEFF ZELENY: The National Republican Senatorial Committee believes it has found another way to tie Democrats to President Obama: Ebola. Their press releases today come with these screaming headlines: Grimes Defers to Obama on Ebola. Nunn Defers to Obama on Ebola. Hagan Defers to Obama on Ebola. And on and on, throughout the roster of top Senate races across the country. But is the GOP overplaying its hand? While Ebola may be the October surprise of the fall campaign largely because its October and there has yet to be another surprise its hard to imagine that the outbreak moves any voters. To fire up the base, sure, its another way to hammer the president. But undecided voters, if there are truly any who remain, could surely be turned off by the crass political treatment of a deadly outbreak. If its too soon to crack jokes about Ebola, is it too soon to blatantly politicize it?

THE MIDTERM MINUTE

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Not What Democrats Needed To Hear