DNC head: Midterms not about Obama

by Erik Wasson - 04/20/14 11:51 AM ET

The midterm elections will not be a referendum on President Obama’s performance in the White House, the Democratic National Committee chairwoman said Sunday.

“No, absolutely not,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “These elections, particularly the Senate elections, are referendums on the candidates running.”

{mosads}NBC’s David Gregory asked Wasserman Schultz if keeping the Senate and taking back the House are an uphill climb given the president’s low poll numbers and the unpopularity of ObamaCare.

Forty-nine percent of those polled in the most recent Gallup survey say they disapprove of the president’s job performance; 45 percent said they approve.

Wasserman Schultz said that the election will be hard-fought and Democrats can prevail if they can get base voters to the polls.

“This election is going to be quite competitive all the way to the end, but we have to turn our voters out. That’s the bottom line,” she said. “There are millions of people who understand the benefits to the healthcare law.”

She argued that the GOP would be hurt by “extreme” Tea Party candidates in this cycle, adding, “We have countless elections now that Democrats have won because the Republicans have nominated extremists that they’re voters reject, and that’s the advantage we will have going into this election.”

Tags 2022 midterm elections David Gregory Debbie Wasserman Schultz Meet the Press