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I dont want to say Democrats campaign to keep control of the Senate has been a joke. But you can really only do it justice by reaching back to Henny Youngman. Take my seat, please.

Thursdays announcement that the economy grew at a 3.5% annual rate in the third quarter making for six months of blistering 4% growth since the polar vortex reminds us how foolish Democrats have been to avoid talking about the economy or the president this fall. Poor Barack Obama. Who ever solved an historic crisis and still had this many electoral cooties?

Everyone gets that Democrats in West Virginia, South Dakota and Montana had to run away from Obama to win seats held by retiring Democrats in states that Obama lost by a mile. Incumbent Dems in Louisiana and Arkansas had similar problems.

But that narrative of 2014s election has proven exaggerated. If Democrats lose the Senate, and most forecasts make that about a two-out-of-three chance, it will be because they blew states Obama won twice. To get to 51 seats, in most scenarios Republicans need to win Iowa, Colorado or both.

Dems are giving those purple-to-blue states away, if late polls hold up. And its because they have run away, especially in Colorado, from records that should have them coasting.

Its simple, fellas.

Unemployment hit 10% months after President George W. Bush left, and is now in the fives 5.9% in September, and likely to be about 5.5% when new senators are sworn in. The Standard & Poors 500 SPX, +1.17% lost half of its value to hit 666 in March 2009 devilish indeed and reached 2,000 last month. The federal deficit has been cut by two-thirds. Even the Affordable Care Act, hobbyhorse of right-wingers everywhere, had insured 10 million new Americans and produced the lowest health-care inflation in decades.

Heritage Foundation Senior Fellow Mike Gonzalez on why support for Democrats has fallen among Latino voters. Photo credit: Getty Images.

In other words, you say: My opponent doubled unemployment, my allies and I cut it in half. Housing and stocks your retirement collapsed under them, and stocks surged with us in charge. Bonus: We got health-insurance companies off your back about pre-existing conditions and (hello, seniors!) saved Medicare from bankruptcy. All true. And you can say it without even mentioning Obama.

Yet, not a single Democratic Senate candidate willingly takes credit. Success, in Dem-land, is an orphan. On the No. 1 issue, the economy, Republicans have more than doubled their April lead over Democrats, to 11 percentage points, Gallup reported Oct. 13.

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Outside the Box: Democrats will lose by running away from stronger economy