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FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
There are only seven days to go before the midterm elections, and President Obama has a quiet day at the White House. Maybe too quiet.
On his schedule: only meetings with advisers and Cabinet members. No campaign rallies. No fundraisers.
Howard Kurtz writes in "The Daily Beast" that heading into the midterms, the White House feels so beat up by the press and unable to push its own narrative that its gone into "bunker mode."
"What's fascinating is the belief that the bully pulpit has been permanently downsized, forcing the leader of the free world to shout for attention in a cacophonous world."
And it's not just President Obama who seems to be feeling the pain here. Bill Clinton spoke at a campaign event the other day in a high school gym in Detroit that was nearly two-thirds empty. When was the last time Clinton spoke to an almost empty house?
Even some Democrats are voicing their frustration. Frank Caprio, who is running for governor in Rhode Island, says President Obama can "take his endorsement and really shove it." Lovely. This after the president didn't endorse him.
And there are plenty of reasons for all this angst among the Democratic Party. The conventional wisdom is that Democrats are in for a real bruising next Tuesday.
A new USA Today/Gallup Poll shows Democrats face a record "enthusiasm gap." Only 37 percent of Democrats say they're more enthusiastic about voting this year than usual - compared with a whopping 63 percent of Republicans.
Polls also show congressional Republicans holding their lead in generic ballot match-ups against Democrats.
Here’s my question to you: Is the election already over for the Democrats?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Frank
I hope the Democrats do better than expected. For the American people to turn so abruptly back to the Republicans is shocking. Even given the fact that Pres. Obama was a bit lackluster to start off with, are we that vulnerable to Republican smear and slogan that we are going to throw in the towel? I think it would be a disaster to give corporate America another bid to control the country, and certainly the country's purse. Let's all hope not.
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Chris in Ohio
The election was over when the president and the Democratic-controlled Congress failed to understand the needs of the country. Great minds can debate on how to best handle the "Great Recession" but who would have thought that their number one job was health care reform (if you can call it that) when Americans want jobs. To add insult to the problem, the President then has the nerve to say we just don't understand the mess we are/were in. Yes Mr. President, we do if only you would have focused on the economy first rather than trying to make your mark in history.
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Dean
So now our government and policy is determined by who is 'enthusiastic'? The media spend so much time trying to entice watchers/readers/listeners, I don't think it has a clue how people *really* feel about much of anything – very much like our politicians. We shall see on Election Day, and not before. Why don't you try to find something useful to write about?
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Patsy in Texas
Jack, President Obama is going to Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, and Connecticut this weekend. Hardly "bunker mode"!
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Charles
The Democrats were beaten when they pushed their agenda on us with no debate, when they shoved as much pork as they could fit into a bill and dared to call it a "stimulus" bill, when they forced universal health care on us with no debate but the Congress was told to pass it and then you can read it. And on and on and on.
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Carla
If I could tell Democrats from Republicans, I'd vote for a Democrat - but there's not much difference these days.