President Barack Obama told Democrats on Thursday night that the party may stumble during midterm elections if they view state-level races as less “sexy” than national ones.
“We know how to win national elections,” Obama told a meeting of Democratic governors and donors, as quoted by The Hill. “But all too often it’s during these midterms where we end up getting ourselves into trouble because, I guess we don’t think it’s sexy enough.”
The President said that while national races may get more attention, state governments determine the policies that affect people on a day-to-day basis.
“And if there’s one message that I want to deliver today to every Democrat and every person who’s interested in supporting Democratic policies, is that you’ve got to pay attention to the states,” he said, as quoted by The Hill.
Obama seems to be aware that he’s not “sexy enough” to campaign with some vulnerable Democratic lawmakers. At a Senate Democrats retreat earlier this month, he reportedly told those senators facing a tough reelection year that he wouldn’t be offended if he wasn’t invited back to their states.
