Democrats Distance Themselves From Obama

President Barack Obama is facing a rebellion in his own party ranks as members of Congress put their own political futures ahead of his.

Democrats are refusing to give Obama their full support in his re-election bid in case it taints their bids to hold on to their jobs, Politico reports.

Typical of their attitude is that of Pennsylvania Rep. Jason Altmire, who turned up at the airport for Obama’s Oct. 11 trip to Pittsburgh but then skipped the rest of his visit.

Democrats worry that their opponents will use pictures of them with the president to tie them to unpopular White House policies, so they will continue to keep their distance, Politico reports.

The website asked West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin whether he would support Obama’s reelection bid and he replied, “I’m supporting the state of West Virginia and the people of West Virginia.”

When Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas was asked the same question, he replied, “No, I’m going to be concentrating on [winning] the Democratic majority.”

And a spokesman for Rep. John Barrow of Georgia responded, “We haven’t even thought about that yet. “John is focused on his own re-election, which is quite competitive at this point.”