How toxic has President Obama become for Democrats running in this year's midterm campaigns? Extremely toxic, judging from Sen. Chris Coons' (D., Del.) newest campaign ad.
Red-state Democrats in tough re-election battles have been frantically trying to distance themselves from the president. However, it is a surprising development for a senator from a reliably Democratic state to run ads highlighting an instance in which he challenged the president on Obamacare mandates.
The News Journal reports:
Coons, the first-term senator seeking re-election in November, is out with his first television ad of the cycle. The ad touts his efforts to work with Republicans and to advocate for an exemption allowing volunteer fire companies to avoid paying for health insurance under Obamacare mandates.
Groups representing volunteer fire companies nationwide lobbied for the change, but Coons is using his efforts as proof that he has challenged Obama and worked across the political aisle.
"It's not easy getting things done in Washington, but I'm working hard to find common ground," Coons says in the ad, which airs statewide.
A member of the Delaware City Fire Company featured in the ad says, "something went wrong with the new health care law that threatened to shut us all down. And then Chris Coons got involved."
In a statement, a Coons campaign spokesman said working to "exempt the volunteer fire service required working with senators from both parties and challenging the Obama administration's landmark legislation"
It's a curious strategy in Delaware, where Obama remains popular and where Democrats, who vastly outnumber Republicans, remain largely in favor of the president's health care law.