Podesta sharpens WH focus for midterms
By Justin Sink and Amie Parnes - 01/22/14 06:00 AM EST
John Podesta’s fingerprints are all over the White House agenda just three weeks into his tenure.
The White House has focused on income inequality and executive action since President Obama’s new adviser came on at the beginning of the year — demonstrating a single mindedness often missing during a rocky 2013.
Both issues were championed by Podesta as effective ways to score victories over congressional Republicans and motivate the Democratic base ahead of the midterm elections, where the Democratic majority in the Senate is in peril.
Keeping Democrats excited and confident in Obama this year is vital to Democratic hopes of retaining the Senate in the midterms, where voter turnout is often the difference between winning and losing.
One former senior administration official said the White House “has got to be worried about the notion of a six-year itch.” Only 31 percent of Democrats strongly approved of Obama in a recent Reuters poll.
Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/196050-podesta-sharpens-white-house-focus-for-midterms#ixzz2rETnFn63
