Red-state Democrats that are in tough reelection fights are finding ways to put distance between themselves and President Barack Obama following his State of the Union speech.
Sen. Mark Begich (D., Alaska) joined CNN after Obama’s speech and was asked if he would like the president to come campaign for him in Alaska.
"First I’ll tell you when I ran and won was the same year he ran for his first election for the presidency, he lost Alaska by 22 points and I still won my election," Begich said. "If he wants to come up, I’m not really interested in campaigning."
"What I’d like him to do is see why his policies are wrong on ANWR for example," he said. "He opposes oil and gas development. I’d like to show him why it’s the right move to move that forward, to create jobs in oil and gas. He talked about energy a little bit tonight. We have it right there, a storehouse of energy. I’d like to be able to show him some of the issues we've battled with the federal government on and try to get his policies changed that directly affect us."