WASHINGTON — President Obama, in trouble at home, is quite literally heading for the border. His approval rating is in the 40s, vulnerable Democratic candidates don’t want to be seen with him and Republicans think his unpopularity could win them the Senate. So it’s likely no coincidence that Obama is making himself scarce in these parts.
This week, he’s in Mexico. Next month, he visits the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Saudi Arabia. In April, he travels to Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and the Philippines. Last Tuesday morning, French President Francois Hollande invited Obama to France for the 70th anniversary of D-Day; Obama accepted before lunchtime.
After Obama met with Senate Democrats earlier this month, one of the lawmakers told The Washington Post’s Ed O’Keefe that Obama assured them that “he would not be offended if he were not invited” to campaign for them. Even when he travels around the country, it’s often for anodyne appearances such as Tuesday’s visit to a grocery distribution center in the safely Democratic state of Maryland.
That’s hardly surprising. The National Republican Senatorial Committee’s polling of competitive Senate races finds Obama’s support at 28 percent in West Virginia, 36 percent in Arkansas, 38 percent in Louisiana, 39 percent in Iowa and Michigan, 40 percent in Alaska, and 42 percent in Colorado. But if Obama is a toxic wingman for Democratic candidates, they desperately need his help fundraising. And they are grumbling that he hasn’t been willing enough to assist them. Even a marginally popular president remains a huge draw among party donors, but fundraising isn’t easily done from Brussels and Tokyo.