Fmr Deputy Press Sec: Dems Attacking Obama Hurting Themselves

Former Deputy White House Press Secretary Bill Burton argued that Democrats attacking the president could become “self-inflicted wounds” on Monday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Ronan Farrow Daily.”

“I think the thing that they [Democrats] have to worry about is self-inflicted wounds here. Because if the Republicans are saying how terrible the president is and you’ve got Democrats out there saying ‘yeah, the president is not that great,’ then what you’ve got is a president whose numbers are more and more depressed, hurting Democrats on the ticket everywhere” he said. Burton added that Democrats should be campaigning on positive accomplishments by the president.

Huffington Post Media Editorial Director Howard Fineman agreed, saying “it [Democrats distancing themselves from the president] hasn’t helped them that much because what it’s done is it’s further weakened the president in my view. He’s been subjected to a billion dollars worth of negative advertising with no response. So that’s the effect of it. It’s not going to save Alison Grimes [in Kentucky,] I don’t think. It may save [Sen.] Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), I’m not sure. And it may allow Michelle Munn to squeak through in Georgia, but that’s more because of the weakness of the Republicans than her strength.” And “there’s no positive message coming out about any Democratic accomplishments and surely there have been some as the president himself was saying on the road, the economy, not for everybody, but in general the economy has done pretty darn well in the last six months. We look a lot better than Europe does we look a lot better than most of the rest of the world. That’s a tough message to sell. But if you don’t sell any message as everybody here, knows, an attack unanswered is an attack accepted.”

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